Funding by Research Council of Finland brings next batch of top international researchers to Finnish universities

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has granted Finnish universities a total of 22.5 million euros to recruit high-level researchers from outside Finland. The funding will enable nine international researchers to transfer to Finnish universities as professors. The RCF’s investment in recruiting top experts to Finland is significant even by international standards.

The funding decisions form the second part of the total amount of 50 million euros that the RCF has reserved for strengthening the research profiles of universities through the recruitment of international high-level researchers. The first part of the funding decisions was made in January 2026.

The funding now granted will be divided between seven universities, where the researchers’ backgrounds fit perfectly with the objectives of the call. The United States is the country of departure for three of the researchers. Other countries include, for example, Canada and France. The five-year funding will be allocated to the researcher’s host organisation, which will enter into an employment relationship with the researcher. The researchers and their teams will work in the universities’ profiling areas, which have been previously developed with funding granted by the RCF.

By supporting international recruitment, the RCF promotes the integration of the Finnish scientific community and the international scientific community with a view to defending the freedom of science, responsible research, democracy and human rights. In addition, the solid expertise of the recruited researchers combined with ambitious research initiatives will lay the foundation for growth and societal stability.

Professor Kimmo Nuotio, Chair of the RCF Board, said: “Finnish science will be given a boost when the universities complete their planned international recruitments. All the ingredients are in place for this funding to produce many kinds of success stories.”

The funding granted by the RCF is a significant investment. It was one of the first European funding calls aimed at recruiting international researchers. The first researchers recruited with the funding have already started their work in Finland, and most of the other researchers recruited are expected to arrive in Finland during 2026.

The RCF's funding aimed at strengthening the research profiles of Finnish universities (known as Profi funding) has now been distributed nine times. The next Profi round is set to be opened in autumn 2027.