Frequently asked questions about the winter call
What does ‘two-stage review’ mean?
At the first review stage, at least two individual reviews per application are invited from panel members or, where appropriate, from external experts before the panel meeting. Applications that receive a final rating of 5 (excellent) or 6 (outstanding) in at least one individual review will proceed to the second stage, to be reviewed at the panel meeting. Please note, however, that the Academy Professor funding scheme has a different review process (see the call text).
What kind of review feedback will applicants receive?
All applicants will receive the reviews by individual reviewers complete with subratings and final ratings. If the application proceeds to the panel, the panel summary and the panel’s final rating will be added to the review report. The panel’s assessment is based on the individual reviews and the discussion during the panel meeting. If the panel gives a final rating of 5 or 6, the subratings will be added to the review report, and the panel will rank the applications by funding scheme.
How should applicants consider principles of responsible evaluation?
The Research Council of Finland’s review process is based on peer review, and the reviewers names are mentioned in the review reports. Information on reviewers and the review reports in general should be handled with due care.
As a rule, the review report is a secret document under the Finnish Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999). As a party, you will receive the review report on your application, but the report is not in the public domain, because the report has affected the processing of your application (section 11, subsection 1 of the Act). If the review report contains secret content other than content concerning yourself, you may not disclose it to a third party (section 23, subsection 2). Nor may you use such secret information for your own personal benefit or the benefit of another, nor for the detriment of another, with the exception provided for in the Act (section 23, subsection 3). These prohibitions also apply to a party’s representative or counsel.
Can I contact the person who reviewed my application to ask for more detailed feedback?
Under the GDPR, publication or otherwise unauthorised disclosure of personal data without specific consent from the data subject is prohibited. In addition, according to the Research Council of Finland’s guidelines on the review and decision-making processes, contacting reviewers is prohibited.
Reviewers, too, are obliged to treat applications confidentially and are not allowed to discuss them or the reviews with third parties, including the applicant.
Learn more about responsible evaluation in our review principles (PDF).
When will the funding decisions be made, and when can I start using the funding?
The decisions on the winter call 2025 will be made in June 2025. The funding period starts on 1 September 2025.
Is the research plan structure the same as in the previous winter call?
We have made some changes to the structure of the research plan. The links to the correct templates are given in the call texts. Write the research plan on our template (Word or LaTex) and append to the application it as a PDF appendix.
Has the panel structure changed?
There will be no ‘Physical activity and sport science’ panel in the 2025 winter call. Otherwise, the panel structure has remained unchanged. The panel descriptions have been modified based on feedback from the 2024 winter call. Some panel titles, descriptions and keywords have been revised. It is worth examining carefully the different panels to find the one that best suits your application.
Why is my field missing from the panel structure?
The panel structure, the panel descriptions and the keywords are not an exhaustive list of the topics that will be covered in the panels. They are intended to help applicants choose the most appropriate panel. The application may therefore address a topic that is not necessarily specifically mentioned in the panel description. The panels are also typically multidisciplinary, and thus do not necessarily contain a detailed description of a particular field. On the other hand, a field can also fit several different panels, which is why it is perhaps not mentioned.
If my application fits several panels, how do I make the choice?
Choose a panel whose description matches the research questions in your application and the specific research you intend to carry out during the funding period. The reviewers value scientific novelty, so think about what is most important and most innovative in your application. Is the novelty in a revolutionary method or in a new application area? You can also think about which panel topics best match your own and your research team’s expertise, so that you can convince the experts of the feasibility of your application.
How do I know whether an organisation is eligible to apply and whether it can act as the site of research?
We will not take a position on whether a certain type of organisation is eligible if the application is not yet pending. In other words, we do not give binding, prior opinions on eligibility. We will decide on the eligibility once the application is pending in our system.
How do we submit the cost coefficients to the RCF?
The organisation’s information is updated centrally by a representative of the site of research (your organisation) who has administrator access to the online services. See instructions on the features in the online services available to organisation representatives (PDF, in Finnish only).
Can the project’s funding be used to pay the PI’s salary?
Yes, with certain restrictions. Read more in the call text and the funding terms and conditions.
Academy Research Fellowship
Can I apply for an Academy Research Fellowship if I currently have an Academy Research Fellowship?
If you have a five-year post as Academy Research Fellow, you cannot apply. If you have a four-year post (the new-form Academy Research Fellow funding), you can apply for a new Academy Research Fellowship as long as your funding periods do not overlap and you meet the other eligibility criteria.
How much does parental leave extend the eligibility when applying for an Academy Research Fellowship?
Family leave extends the eligibility to apply for an Academy Research Fellowship. The easiest way to calculate your eligibility is to add the number of days of parental leave to the date of your degree. The resulting date should fall between 1 January 2018 and 31 January 2023. Please note that only leaves taken after the doctoral degree count towards the extension.
Can tenure-track professors or lecturers (tenured teachers) apply for Academy Research Fellowship funding?
You can apply for an Academy Research Fellowship if you are not yet a full-time, senior researcher and if you meet all other eligibility criteria. Senior-level positions are, for instance, professor, assistant/associate professor, research director and comparable posts. If you have a fixed-term position in a university’s tenure-track system, for example, you can apply for an Academy Research Fellowship.
Can the salary funding applied for to the Academy Research Fellow and the research team (46 + 48 months) be split between more than two researchers?
The salary can be split between more than one person, as long as the number of months is not exceeded. If the Academy Research Fellow applicant does not apply for funding for their own salary, a total of 96 months of salaries for other persons may be included in the cost estimate. The restriction on salary months is a means to prevent excessive budgets in a situation where we do not set a ceiling in euros.
Can I apply for an Academy Research Fellowship to more than one site of research?
The funding is granted to a single site, but you may have an employment relationship to more than one organisation. The site of research, i.e. the recipient of the funding, must ensure that the combined proportions of the different organisations constitute a full-time employment and salary.
Can the Academy Research Fellow work abroad for part of the term?
The Research Council of Finland’s funding is awarded to a Finnish research organisation, which will manage the funding throughout the funding period. The Academy Research Fellow must have a close connection to Finland throughout the funding period. The researcher shall primarily work in Finland. However, during the funding period, they can work for periods of varying lengths at a foreign university, for instance. The Academy Research Fellow will lead and supervise research according to the research plan also while work is being performed abroad.
What’s the difference between an Academy Project and an Academy Research Fellowship?
In principle, the funding for an Academy Research Fellowship is intended to support the researcher’s personal career development. Applications for Academy Research Fellowships are reviewed with a focus on the applicant’s merits and increasing qualifications during the funding period. The primary objective of the Academy Project funding scheme is to fund high-quality scientific research and enable scientific breakthroughs, so the review focuses on scientific quality and innovation.
Academy Project Funding
Can I apply for Academy Project Funding if I already have ongoing RCF funding?
If you are the PI of an ongoing Academy Project, we will not consider (process) a new application for Academy Project Funding that you submit. This also applies to applications by consortium subprojects. The following exceptions are possible:
- The PI of a consortium subproject of an ongoing Academy Project may have a new Academy Project application considered (processed) and may be awarded new Academy Project Funding for justified reasons. This exception does not apply to the consortium PI of an Academy Project.
- In the 2025 winter call, an application for Academy Project Funding can be considered (processed) if the applicant has ongoing Academy Project Funding that ends by 31 December 2025.
- In the 2025 winter call, an application for Academy Project Funding can be considered (processed) if the funding period of the applicant’s ongoing Academy Project has been extended due to pregnancy, family, parental, or childcare leave, military or non-military service or long-term illness and if the ongoing project therefore ends after 31 December 2025.
However, an Academy Project application may be considered (processed) in the last year of the Academy Professor funding period and the funding may be granted provided that the funding periods will not overlap.
If you currently have ongoing Academy Research Fellow funding, your application for Academy Project funding can be considered (processed) if the project’s funding period would start in the last two years of your Academy Research Fellow term at the earliest.
If you are a director, vice director or research team leader of a Finnish Centre of Excellence, you may apply for Academy Project Funding only for the CoE’s fourth year of operation.
Do I need to have the title of docent to apply for Academy Project Funding?
No, you do not need to have the title of docent, although applicants usually have qualifications at the professor or docent level. Applicants must have substantial merits of scientific work after obtaining the doctoral degree, such as a good publication record and experience in leading a research team.
Can a company apply for funding?
The Research Council of Finland does not grant funding to support economic activity. If a research organisation is also engaged in economic activities, separate accounts must be kept of the activities, and the funding must be in line with the de minimis regulation (Commission Regulation 1407/2013). The application will be reviewed based on scientific criteria, and the applicant must have a substantial record of scientific work.
Funding for research post as Academy Professor
Can I apply for an Academy Professorship if I already have ongoing Academy Professor funding?
If you have a five-year Academy Professorship, you are eligible to apply for the new-form six-year Academy Professorship. In this case, you must in your research plan demonstrate successful performance during your previous Academy Professorship and present a new plan for the new funding period that is scientifically ambitious and demonstrates scientific renewal. Please note that as of the 2025 winter call, a new-form six-year Academy Professorship will only be granted once to the same person.
Can I apply for an Academy Professorship and Academy Project Funding at the same time?
No, you cannot. In the winter call, we will consider (process) only one application per applicant if the application concerns Academy Project Funding (incl. a consortium subproject), an Academy Professorship, an Academy Research Fellowship or Clinical Researcher Funding. If you do submit more than one application for any of these funding opportunities or apply for funding from more than one of them, we will only consider (process) the first application to arrive.
Can I apply for an Academy Professorship if I currently have Academy Project Funding?
Yes, the principal investigator of an Academy Project may apply for an Academy Professorship.
How does the new Academy Professorship differ from the old-form Academy Professorship?
The RCF funding contribution is a maximum of 2.4 million euros for the six-year term. Unlike before, the entire funding will be granted based on the full cost model, with the RCF contributing up to 70% of the research costs. The funding for the six-year term can cover the applicant’s salary (in line with the salary system of the site of research), the research costs of the possible research team, and other research costs. The applicant must provide a realistic and justified estimate of the financial needs by type of expenditure. The cost estimate need not include the applicant’s own salary if the salary is arranged in some other way and the applicant is able to commit to the research work described in the research plan. Where justified, the funding period may be shorter than six years.
When will the Academy Professors be selected, and when will the funding period start?
The funding decisions will be made no later than December 2025, and the funding period starts on 1 January 2026.
Can I apply for an Academy Professorship to more than one site of research?
The funding is granted to a single site, but you may have an employment relationship to more than one organisation. The site of research, i.e. the recipient of the funding, must ensure that the combined proportions of the different organisations constitute a full-time employment and salary.
Can the Academy Professor work abroad for part of the term?
The Research Council of Finland’s funding is awarded to a Finnish research organisation, which will manage the funding throughout the funding period. The Academy Professor must have a close connection to Finland throughout the funding period. The researcher shall primarily work in Finland. However, during the funding period, they can work for periods of varying lengths at a foreign university, for instance. The Academy Professor will lead and supervise research according to the research plan also while work is being performed abroad.
What is the difference between an Academy Project and an Academy Professorship?
As a rule, the funding for an Academy Professor is intended to raise the applicant to the level of a recognised world-class researcher. The review of an Academy Professor application focuses on the merits and capabilities of the applicant during the funding period. The primary objective of the Academy Project funding scheme is to fund high-quality scientific research and enable scientific breakthroughs, so the review focuses on scientific quality and innovation.
