Research Council of Finland

During the past year, the Research Council of Finland (RCF) reformed its forms of international funding cooperation.

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has made funding decisions on the call ‘2025 Special funding for international collaboration in high-performance computing’. The RCF granted funding for twelve projects, totalling 6.4 million euros for 2026–2028.

The Research Council of Finland’s (RCF) Subcommittee for Thematic Research has made the funding decisions on four thematically targeted funding calls. The total funding comes to nearly 37 million euros. The targeted calls were based on the 2025 state budget, which had also allocated funding for the implementation of the multiannual plan for the use of central government R&D funding. The funded research contributes to reinforcing high-impact R&D, supporting the utilisation of research-based knowledge and promoting cooperation between the different actors involved.

The Research Council of Finland’s (RCF) 2026 winter call closed for applications on 12 November 2025, with a total of 3,185 applications submitted for Academy Project and Academy Research Fellowship funding. The total number includes Academy Project consortium subprojects as separate applications. If each consortium is counted as a single application, the total number of applications comes to 2,737.

The Strategic Research Council (SRC) established within the Research Council of Finland is launching two new strategic research programmes. The six-year programmes start in late 2026.

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has granted a total of 9.7 million euros to 27 projects (altogether 41 subprojects) in the 2025 Proof of Concept call. The application success rate was 26 per cent. The projects start on 1 January 2026 and run for two years.

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has selected eleven Centres of Excellence (CoE) for the 2026–2033 programme period. The eleven CoEs of the new CoE programme include research teams from thirteen Finnish universities and research institutes.

From spring 2026 onwards, the Research Council of Finland (RCF) will support clinical research with a single comprehensive funding opportunity. The first reformed call for clinical research will open in early spring 2026. The RCF’s previous funding scheme for clinical researchers will not be part of the 2026 winter call.

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has published the call texts for the 2026 winter call. The call texts are available on the RCF website in English, Finnish and Swedish. The review guidelines and forms are only available in English.

Key statistical data on research funding granted by the Research Council of Finland (RCF) can be found in the RCF’s data dashboards. The dashboard on the 2025 winter call statistics, published today, is a tool for examining the number of applications and funding awarded in the funding schemes Academy Projects and Academy Research Fellowships.

The Strategic Research Council (SRC) established within the Research Council of Finland has granted a total of 29 million euros for research supporting economic growth and the future of work. The ten consortia of projects to be funded focus on long-term research to find solutions to key societal challenges.

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has moved up the annual call within the Academy Programme for Sport Science and Physical Activity (ACTIVE). The funding call is scheduled to open in October 2025 and close in November. The aim of the ACTIVE programme is to advance the quality, innovativeness and impact of research on sport and physical activity.

On 16 June 2025, the Strategic Research Council (SRC) established within the Research Council of Finland granted continued funding to nine consortia and two programme directors in the following SRC programmes.

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) received 244 Academy Professorship applications in the winter 2025 call. The RCF has now selected 56 applicants to the second call stage. The new Academy Professors will be announced in late October.

The Research Council of Finland’s (RCF) spring call 2025 attracted a total of 1,039 applications. The total number includes consortium subprojects as separate applications. If each consortium is counted as a single application, the total number of applications comes to 476. The funding decisions will be made in November 2025.

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has drawn up a shortlist of 34 applications that will proceed to the second stage of the call for Finnish Centres of Excellence 2026–2033. The first call stage attracted 188 letters of intent.

The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has launched a funding call to improve universities’ ability to recruit international experts to Finland. In line with the RCF’s strategy, the call will promote internationalisation and strengthen competence centres and research environments. With a preliminary total budget of 50 million euros, the call will fund university recruitments between 2026 and 2030.

Researchers at 60 different intensive care units around the world are seeking to establish methods to expedite and improve post-cardiac arrest recovery at ICUs. The research is led by Markus Skrifvars, Staff Specialist in Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care and Professor of Prehospital Emergency Medicine at University of Helsinki, jointly with Professor Niklas Nielsen from Lund University. Professor Skrifvars’ part of the research is funded by the Research Council of Finland.

Extended reality makes it possible to artificially modify human sensations. For example, researchers have succeeded in using extended reality to make vegetarian food even more attractive. “This could be one way of facilitating more ecologically diverse food production and, at the same time, encouraging people to eat healthier,” says Roope Raisamo, a professor in human-technology interaction at Tampere University, who has been carrying out research on extended reality for different use cases with funding from the Research Council of Finland (RCF) for years.

The Strategic Research Council (SRC) established within the Research Council of Finland has invited 28 consortia to the second stage of the SRC programme call.