Tandem Forest Values 3 – Sustainable value chains from forest raw material

Forestry and the forest products industry constitute important parts of the economies of both Finland and Sweden. The two countries are currently developing or renewing their national bioeconomy strategies, in both Finland and Sweden with a clear focus on the multifaceted role of forests and their many societal benefits. The efforts on the national level are mirrored at the European level in the New Green Deal and the new forest strategy as well as the biodiversity strategy, highlighting again the need to carefully balance and optimise the use of the forest resources in order to meet economical and other societal needs. The two countries thus share many conditions, opportunities and challenges, constituting a great potential for synergies from a closer collaboration within research and development.

In order to strengthen long-term bilateral research collaboration between Finland and Sweden, the Swedish Government together with a group of private actors donated a gift to Finland’s centenary of independence celebrations in 2017 – a joint bilateral call for research projects, named Tandem Forest Values. Due to the success of the first call, Finland and Sweden funded also a second call in 2019, and the present call is thus the third in the bilateral programme Tandem Forest Values. The present call is funded by the Academy of Finland (the Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering), the Swedish Research Council Formas, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland, the Ministry of the Environment of Finland, and the Walter Ahlström Foundation. The funding is set at a total of 3 million euros (SEK 30 million), with equal amounts from Finland and Sweden.

The project must be a collaboration between Finland and Sweden. The funding can be applied for by consortia composed of at least one and up to two project partners from each country. The project must build on, or lead to, an active collaboration between research groups at universities or research institutes in Finland and Sweden within the research themes.

A consortium application is an application built around a joint research plan, where each party to the consortium (project partner) applies for funding. The application is treated 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 least at the docent level (adjunct professor). These criteria also apply to subproject PIs in consortia. In addition to this, the consortium leader must have no more than ten years from their first doctorate. The doctoral degree certificate (the first doctorate, if the applicant has multiple) of the consortium leader should be issued between 1 December 2011 and 1 December 2021.The date of the doctoral degree certificate may deviate from the above-mentioned because of career breaks (maternity, paternity and parental leaves, military or non-military service, or long-term illness. See also Appendix B for additional details for Swedish applicants).

In addition, the applicant must have a close connection with the country of their site of research (Finland or Sweden) to support the implementation of a multi-year project. This connection must be described in the application.

Special terms and restrictions

The call focuses on new and sustainable value chains from forest raw material. It encompasses all types of wood-based products, such as building components, furniture, textiles, packaging, and other new materials, but not bioenergy and biofuels.

The project must be a collaboration between Finland and Sweden. The funding can be applied for by consortia composed of at least one and up to two project partners from each country. The consortium leader must have no more than ten years from their first doctorate. The doctoral degree certificate (the first doctorate, if the applicant has multiple) of the consortium leader should be issued between 1 December 2011 and 1 December 2021.

The funding is primarily intended towards the salaries of researchers who work full-time on the project and for other project costs. The salary costs of the PI may be incorporated into the total project costs. Note that the salary costs of the PI are, however, restricted with certain limitations for the Finnish project partners; see Appendix A for details.

Applicants can submit only one application to this call (incl. a consortium subproject). If you do submit more than one application, we will only review the first application to arrive. Applications that are not reviewed will not be eligible for funding.

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.

An application will not be processed if the applicant or the application does not meet the competence requirements or other key requirements, or if the application otherwise does not qualify for processing. The funding parties may not process and not 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.

Each funder has its own further requirements. Please read Appendix A (Finland) and Appendix B (Sweden) carefully for more details.

The call aims to support research on new possibilities to use forest raw material for future and more sustainable value chains. The research funded within the call should focus on ways to maximise the added value in biobased and wood products, stimulate new potential value chains that can strengthen job creation and rural development, and establish Finland and Sweden as global front runners in the production and export of truly sustainable wood products.

The research envisioned in the call is encouraged to, in addition to generating technological breakthroughs, include a holistic view of the value chain of the product in focus. This could include the following aspects: design aspects to enable effective and non-toxic circular material flows, market aspects, incentives and policy to stimulate increased use, or implications on the supply of future raw material to support the value chain in focus. The call encompasses all types of wood-based products, such as building components, furniture, textiles, packaging, and other new materials, but not bioenergy and biofuels.

The projects should be built around an ambitious research plan of high scientific quality. The research plan is carried out by a high-level consortium made up of research teams in Finland and Sweden. The funding is designed to promote the quality and diversity of research, scientific impact and impact beyond academia as well as science self-renewal. The aim is to attain internationally as high a scientific standard of work as possible and to support scientific breakthroughs and top-tier international research collaboration. The funded projects must benefit Finnish and Swedish research and society and international collaboration.

Funding is applied for the salaries of the research team and other project costs.

The call’s funding budget has been set at 3 million euros, of which Finland and Sweden are contributing equal amounts. The maximum amount of funding per subproject is 300,000 euros.

The funding period is two years, and the expected start date is 1 September 2022.

Each project partner must have a separate budget. It should include all costs related to the project, including full overhead costs following the standards at each university or institute. The Finnish project partners will prepare their budgets according to the full cost model and apply for 70% of the total project costs of their subproject. The Swedish project partners will prepare their budgets so that 100% of the costs for their subproject is applied for from the funder.

The project partners of the consortia chosen to be funded will be designated to specific funders, in Sweden and in Finland, who will accept different levels of overhead costs. Further instructions will be provided for the applications chosen to be funded later at the funding stage. For more detailed information on the funding principles of each participating funder, please see Appendix A and Appendix B.

The funding is paid via a site of research (usually a university or research institute) based in Finland or Sweden. The PI must have a close connection with Finland/Sweden to support the implementation of the project. This connection must be evident from the application. Researchers funded by the project may, however, spend time working abroad during their funding period.

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

• research team salaries
• PI’s salary costs (restricted with certain limitations for the Finnish project partners, see Appendix A for details)
• salaries of researchers returning to Finland/Sweden
• essential implementation costs (e.g. material and other project costs)
• travel expenses
• collaboration and mobility
• preparation of international projects.

Please also see Appendix A and Appendix B for further information.

Research team salaries

As a rule, staff hired with the research funding must be employed by the site of research. 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 (i.e. the applicant’s host organisation, e.g. university, research institute or other research organisation) provides the research project with all necessary basic facilities. The requirements for the site of research varies between Finland and Sweden. Please see a detailed description in Appendix A and Appendix B.  

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. The information is provided as percentages.

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 any other 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 the application, applicants must agree with the administration at their 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. You must check with your own organisation whether the funding planned as the own funding contribution suits this purpose. The cost estimate must be realistic.

Each project partner must have a separate budget. It should include all costs related to the project, including full overhead costs following the standards at each university or institute. The Finnish project partners will prepare their budgets according to the full cost model and apply for 70% of the total project costs of their subproject. The Swedish project partners will prepare their budgets so that 100% of the costs for their subproject is applied for from the funder.

All research costs must be justified in the free-text field in the online services under ‘Funding for the project’. If a Finnish project partner applies for salary for the PI, the salary is justified in the free-text field as well. Please see Appendix A for more information on the limitation for the PI’s salary in Finland.

Mobility aid in research projects

The 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 expenses’. The mobility aid must be justified.

When preparing the cost estimate, remember to consider the policies on the granted funding of the funder. The policies are stated in Appendix A and B of the call text.

How to submit and supplement the application

The non-negotiable call deadline also applies to consortia. The deadline for applications is 1 December 2021 at 16.15 Finnish time.

The applications are prepared and submitted in the online services of the Academy of Finland. Before you start preparing the application, please read carefully the Consortium application guidelines. Note that all project partners in the consortium need to create an account in the online services and fill in the joint consortium application for their own part. The consortium PI creates the application and adds the project partners.

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 project partners has have tagged their subproject 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 supplemented information insofar as it is possible in view of the review and decision-making process.

We may ask you to supplement the application. If you don not supplement the application by the given deadline, we may not process it. You must make sure that your contact details (email address) are up to date.

The sender is responsible for the application arriving by the set deadline to enable the review of the application. An application enters the call 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.

An application will not be processed if the applicant or the application does not meet the competence requirements or other key requirements, or if the application otherwise does not qualify for processing. The funding parties may not process and not 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.

Publicity and data protection

Except for the research plan, plan of intent, abstract and progress 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.

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.

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 (university or research institute)
• 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 including spaces
• Brief overview of scientific and societal objectives, research methods and data as well as expected research results and impact
• Read the guidelines for abstracts

Research plan

• Maximum length 15 pages
• Read the guidelines on the structure of the research plan
• See the how-to guides for the online services

Most relevant publications and other key outputs in relation to the research plan

• The consortium PI enters up to ten of the consortium’s own most important project-relevant publications and up to ten of the consortium’s own research outputs, with justifications.
• Applicants from Finland 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 (the type of publication will not show in the PDF version of the application)
• The information is used to assess the competence of the consortium to carry out the project.

Mobility

• Describe planned national and international mobility within the project, itemised by person.
• See more information on mobility.
• In the case of digital mobility, the mobility and its benefits will be described within the collaborators description in research plan section 3.2. This information can be also described in the letter of collaboration.
• We recommend that applicants append a letter of collaboration to the application. Read more about the letter.

Collaborators

• Project collaborators, itemised by collaborator (name, organisation, country)
• Describe the collaborator’s project-relevant key merits and provide justifications for choosing them in section 3.2 of the research plan
• We recommend that applicants append a letter of collaboration to the application. Read more about the letter.

Research ethics

• Preliminary ethical review for project and/or animal testing permit (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

• 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 information is provided as percentages.
• 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.
• The Finnish consortium partners will prepare their budgets according to the full cost model and apply for 70% of the total subproject costs of their subproject. The Swedish partners will prepare their budgets so that 100% of the costs for their subproject is applied for from the funder.
• 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 the site of research.
• Salary costs for the PI (Please see Appendix A for details on salary limitation for Finnish PI’s).

Public project description

• Maximum length 1,000 characters including spaces
• Popular and reader-friendly description of the research project in English and Finnish/Swedish
• We will use the project description in our communications on the funded research project. The project description is also stored at research.fi, a service that makes available information on research conducted in Finland.
• Read the guidelines on the public project description.

Progress report (For applicants with ongoing or finished Academy of Finland funding)

• If you have ongoing Academy funding or completed projects for which no final report has yet been submitted, the projects to be reported are available on a separate tab in the online services. This does not apply to applicants acting as the responsible person in funding schemes where the funding recipient is an organisation.
• Maximum length per project is 1,500 characters including spaces.
• Describe the progress and/or key achievements of the project and how it is related to the funding being applied for.
• Read more about drafting the report
• Also see 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.

Case-specific appendices:

• Letter of collaboration. Read more about the letter.

Authorisation

• You can authorise another person to supplement or view your application.
• Start by entering the person’s name in the field. If the person has an account in the online services (SARA), they can be selected from the list.
• The person must have an account in the Academy’s online services (SARA).
• Persons authorised to edit an application can access specific fields in the application, as determined by the authoriser. 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.

Submit application

• You can submit the application when you have filled in or attached all the necessary information.
• Consortium PI will submit the consortium application. The PI can submit the consortium application only after all subprojects have tagged their applications as complete.
• 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.

The funding is granted based on peer review. We will use foreign experts as reviewers. Applications are reviewed in international panel comprised of researchers with the competence to assess both the scientific quality and the potential societal benefits, as well as the bilateral dimension. At least two individual reviews are requested for applications  for which the competence  of the evaluation panel is not high enough.

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

Review criteria:

• how the project supports the objectives of the call (see the call’s special terms)
• benefits for the forest sector and society in Finland and Sweden
• scientific quality, innovativeness and novelty value of the research as well as its impact within the scientific community
• competence of applicants and research teams in terms of project implementation
• feasibility of research plan (incl. responsible science)
• quality of research environment and collaborative networks
• researcher mobility and researcher training
• added value of bilateral collaboration between Finland and Sweden

All review criteria must be addressed in the application and applicants are encouraged to clearly and distinctly relate the application to these criteria. The applicant is encouraged to be very thorough with the structure and clarity of the application, as the review will be based solely on the information provided in the application.

Read the rating scale and the review questions that will be used in the review: Review form: Tandem Forest Values 3 and review guidelines.

The panel drafts one review report on each application. The review report is subject to professional secrecy. Applications that receive a final rating below 5 receive a brief panel summary on the application.  The panel will also rank the applications that have received a rating of 5 or 6.

The funding decisions are set to be made in early summer 2022.

Each funder will make its own funding decisions. The consortia will be jointly funded by the funding parties based on the review and the ranking of the applications. The funding decisions will be made taking into account the funding terms stated in Appendix A and Appendix B.

The project partners in the consortia chosen to be funded will be designated to specific funders, in Sweden and in Finland. Formas will fund the Swedish subprojects and the Finnish funders will fund the corresponding Finnish subprojects. A Finnish subproject may, moreover, be funded by more than one Finnish funder. The project partners will be invited to submit national application forms. Detailed information about the submission will be provided in the invitation by the funder.

Academy of Finland, Natural Sciences and Engineering

• Ulrika Jakobsson, Science Adviser, tel. +358 295 335 038, firstname.lastname(at)aka.fi
• Jan Bäckman, Science Adviser, tel. +358 295 33 5010, firstname.lastname(at)aka.fi

Swedish Research Council Formas

• Karin Perhans, Senior Research Officer, karin.perhans@formas.se, +46 8 775 40 36

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland

• Liisa Saarenmaa, Deputy Director General, liisa.saarenmaa(at)mmm.fi, +358 40 7523271
• Mikko Peltonen, Research Director, mikko.peltonen(ar)mmm.fi, +358 29 516 2296

Finnish Ministry of the Environment

• Petri Heino, Programme Manager, petri.heino@ym.fi, +358 50 5949923

Walter Ahlström Foundation

• Johanna Linna, Representative, info(at)walterahlstrom.fi, +358 44 348 9267

Common requirements

We require that the site of research (i.e the applicant’s host organisation, e.g. university, research institute or other research organisation) provides the research project with all necessary basic facilities. The costs of ensuring immediate open access to peer-reviewed articles are included in the overheads of the site of research and are thus part of the basic facilities provided by the site.

The funding plan must also include the overheads percentage, indirect employee costs and coefficient for effective working hours of the site of research. At the application stage the applicant will prepare the budget according to the full cost model and apply for 70% of the total subproject costs. However, the funding partners in Finland apply different cost models, and thus the final granted budget may vary accordingly. More detailed instructions will be provided for the subprojects of the consortia chosen to be funded later at the funding stage. Please see details below in the special requirements for each funder.

The funding is granted primarily to teams of researchers with doctoral degrees. We encourage researchers to engage in international mobility that will support the research, for example, so that researchers hired to the project work abroad for a fixed period. The project may also hire foreign researchers who already work or who will work in the Finnish scientific community. The funding may also be used to hire researchers returning to Finland.

The salary costs of the PI may, under certain limitations, be incorporated into the total project costs:

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

The salary costs of the PI may be incorporated into the total project costs in accordance with what is stated in the research plan. In order for the salary costs to be eligible, the PI’s tasks must be clearly specified in the application. 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. In a two-year research project this means no more than three months.

Applying for funding for PI’s salary for research

The Finnish funding partners can grant a maximum of twelve months (i.e. six months in a two-year project) of funding towards the salary of a PI for conducting research. The funding is intended to support project implementation and granted only for well-justified reasons (e.g. work abroad, return to Finland or transfer to another research organisation or a company in Finland). A condition is that the research-related reasons and the PI’s tasks must be clearly presented on the tab ‘Funding for the project’ in the online services.

Account of salary when 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 on the tab ‘Funding for the project’ in the online services. Retired researchers can be granted funding on the same grounds as other researchers.

Specific requirements of Academy of Finland

Committed budget and maximum funding per partner

The Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering of the Academy of Finland participates in the call. The Research Council will decide the applicants that will receive funding from the Academy of Finland.

The Research Council aims to fund 3–5 Finnish project partners with 1 million euros reserved for this call. The maximum amount of funding per project partner is 300,000 euros.

The Academy applies the full cost model in the funding, and the funding contribution for a subproject cannot exceed 70% of the total subproject costs.

The funding to be distributed through this call depends on the Finnish Parliament’s decision to allocate the necessary funds to the Academy in the 2022 state budget.

Eligible topics

The Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering will provide funding for topics within the research fields hosted by the Council (see “Research fields” on the web pages of the Council).

Funding decisions

In general, the conditions and restrictions on Academy of Finland’s Academy Projects apply and the terms set out in the Academy’s general conditions and guidelines must be fulfilled.

Read carefully the funding terms and conditions of Academy of Finland. More information can be found in the application guidelines. When in doubt, researchers are strongly encouraged to contact the Academy of Finland’s contact point.

Policies for research project funding granted by the Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering are provided on the web pages of the Council.

Funding towards the salary of the PI for research cannot be used for this purpose unless it is mentioned in the terms and conditions included in the funding decision.

The Finnish project partners of consortia chosen to be funded by the Academy will be invited to submit national application forms. Detailed information about the submission will be provided in the invitation.

What is required from the site of research?

We require that the site of research (i.e. the applicant’s host organisation, e.g. a university, research institute or other research organisation) 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 and are thus part of the basic facilities provided by the site. The costs associated with storing and sharing research data are regarded as overheads for the project’s site of research. Only exceptionally and for justified reasons can they be accepted as research costs to be covered with Academy 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. Read more in the guidelines on the commitment by site of research.

When accepting the funding, the site of research is responsible for ensuring that necessary statements and permits from the ethics committees have been obtained before the start of the project. After a positive funding decision, the applicant will prepare the data management plan of the project, and the site of research will also approve the plan. Read more about the data management plan in our guidelines.

Other requirements

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.

Academy funding cannot be used for economic activity. (Possible business collaboration must fulfil the terms set out in the Academy’s general conditions and guidelines, section 10.1.). Read more about the eligibility of economic operations.

If you have not submitted a final report on a completed, Academy-funded project, we may decide not to process your application. Read more about the circumstances that may cause the Academy not to process or review an application.

Specific requirements of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland

The funding from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is granted under Article 30.40.22.1 of the State Budget. The Ministry aims to fund two Finnish project partners with 300,000 euros reserved for this call, focusing on the creation of added value for forest-based products and processes. The maximum amount of funding per partner is 200,000 euros. The Ministry applies the full cost model in the funding, and the funding contribution for a project cannot exceed 70% of the total project costs.

For more information, please read the general conditions and guidelines for funding on the Ministry’s pages for Research and Development.

Specific requirements of the Ministry of Environment

The Ministry of the Environment's funding is granted under Article 35.10.61 of the State Budget. The grant is supervised by a project supervisor appointed by the Ministry.

The Ministry aims to fund 1–2 Finnish project partners solely or jointly with other funders, with 100,000 euros reserved for this call. The Ministry only funds projects under themes related to wood products, such as wood building materials and components, furniture and other long-lived timber and wood products. The funding is to be used by the end of 2023, but the project may continue until the end of 2024. The funding contribution of the Ministry for a project cannot exceed 80% of the total project costs.

For more information, please see the general conditions and guidelines for funding in Finnish and for the translation into English please see Conditions and restriction concerning special grants of the Ministry of the Environment (pdf).

Specific requirements of the Walter Ahlström Foundation

The Walter Ahlström Foundation aims to fund the Finnish project partners of 2–3 projects solely or jointly with other funders with 100,000 euros reserved for this call. The maximum amount of funding per project partner is 50,000 euros. The Foundation does not apply the full cost model in the funding. The funding contribution for a project can add up to 100% of the total project costs.

The Foundation funds research projects within all themes of the call.

For more information on the general conditions and guidelines for funding please contact the Foundation directly.

Specific requirements of the Swedish Research Council Formas

Committed budget and maximum funding per partner

The Swedish Research Council Formas has committed 1,500,000 euros in total over two years to this call. The maximum funding for each Swedish consortium partner is 300,000 euros in total over the project time.

Eligible topics

Formas funds research projects within all themes of the call.

Funding decisions

Swedish PIs in projects recommended for funding will be invited to submit the same application to Formas (using the web-based system Prisma). Information about the submission will be provided in the invitation.

Formas’ Scientific Council will make the final decision about the PIs funded by Formas. The funding awarded will be made public after all funding organisations have reached their decisions. Formas’ Scientific Council is expected to reach its decisions by early summer 2022. Decisions about grant awards are not subject to appeal. Projects are expected to start by 1 September 2022.

General regulations

Who can apply for funding?

To be eligible to apply for grants from Formas in this call, main applicants and co-applicants must have a doctoral degree. Other staff involved in the project do not need to have a doctoral degree. There is no age limit for the main applicant and participating researchers. However, researchers who are full-time pensioners are not eligible to receive funding for salaries.

The time of the doctoral degree of the PI can be approved for the call even though it was issued earlier than 1 December 2011. This only applies if you have not been able to conduct research during the period following the doctoral degree due to an approved reason for deductible time. To claim deductible time, you must specify the approved reason(s) and time interval(s) in the CV section of your application. The deductible time shall not be stated as a lump sum but shall be clearly specified in periods with dates and percentages of absence from research activities. Exceptions for deductible time can include parental leave, sick leave, military service, political duties or other similar circumstances.

Grants for projects can only be administered by a Swedish university, college, research institute or other Swedish public organisation that meets Formas’ criteria for grant administrating organisations.

What funding can be applied for?

Project grants from Formas may be used for financing of salary for researchers, doctoral students (up to three years) and technical staff (including overhead costs according to the practice of the grant administrating organisation). In addition to salary funding, grants may also be used to finance operating costs (e.g. consumables, equipment, travel, conferences, publication in open access journals and databases), equipment depreciation costs and premises costs. The maximum amount allowed for equipment and depreciation costs is a total of 50,000 euros. For more information, please see Formas’ general regulations for project funding.

Open access to publications and research data

Results from research funded by Formas must be published with open access (read more about our requirements for open access to research results and data). The projects that are granted funding must develop a data management plan for the data produced in the project. By signing Formas’ grant terms and conditions, the researcher certifies that a data management plan will be available before the research begins and that it will be maintained.

Reporting of projects awarded funding

Financial statements must be submitted each year for projects longer than 18 months. The final financial and scientific reports are usually submitted within three months after the end of the grant availability period.