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.
The call is implemented as part of the RCF’s Profi funding scheme (Competitive funding to strengthen university research profiles). The aim of Profi funding is to support and speed up the strategic profiling of Finnish universities in order to improve the quality of research.
In the present call, this profiling will be supported by enabling universities to recruit international, high-level researchers from outside Finland, for example from the United States. The funding can only be applied for by Finnish universities, not by individual researchers. Based on the objectives of the funding scheme, the review of applications will focus on how the university can strengthen its existing profiling areas through new recruitment.
Finland will significantly increase its R&D spending going forward to 2030. The overall objective is to build sustainable growth based on a high level of skills and competence. More resources will be targeted at scientific research, at academia-industry cooperation and at strengthening high-quality research and technology infrastructures.
Finland’s research environment is now more attractive and competitive than ever before. Finland is home to several internationally leading research groups and flagship projects and to state-of-the-art infrastructures such as high-performance computing environments. Robust RDI activities require skilled people. This funding call is part of an overall effort to solidify Finland’s position as a leading country in science and innovation.
The call has two stages. The call for letters of intent opened on 16 April and closes on 22 May 2025. The five-year funding period will start on 1 January 2026 at the earliest and no later than 1 January 2027.