The Research Council of Finland’s (RCF) funding for excellent scientific research and robust research environments amounted to around 543 million euros in 2024. This was an exceptionally large funding package for research. The RCF allocated more funding than ever before to both long-term and innovative research and competence clusters and research environments. The increase in the RCF’s research funding budget was made possible by additional funds allocated by the Finnish Government.
In line with the multiannual plan for the use of central government R&D funding, the Finnish Government increased R&D spending by 264 million euros, of which 55 million euros was allocated to be distributed by the RCF. The RCF used the additional funds to target funding at Finnish Flagships and research infrastructures, at boosting doctoral education and at advancing the utilisation of research results.
Competition guarantees the quality of research
The RCF is the key provider of competitive research funding in Finland. Competition based on international scientific peer review is a way to ensure that the highest-quality projects and researchers are funded. The scientific impact of RCF-funded research is clearly higher than on average for research in Finland.
Bottom-up research ideas and free competition effectively strengthen long-term and innovative research and deepen scientific knowledge. The RCF spent 48% of its 2024 research funding budget, or 236 million euros, on what can be categorised as ‘long-term and innovative research’.
Reinforcing Finland’s knowledge base with doctoral education
The RCF increased funding for doctoral education in line with the Government Programme and the RCF’s own strategic objectives. The doctoral education pilot scheme, managed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Education, made it possible to recruit 1,000 new doctoral researchers to Finnish universities. The RCF was responsible for organising the international review of the initiative.
The RCF also increased funding for doctoral education within the Academy Project funding scheme; the increase amounted to 43.4 million euros. RCF-funded research projects account for about one in four of all doctoral degrees completed in Finland, and the additional funding for doctoral education will further strengthen the training of future talents and researchers.
Finnish Flagships combine excellent scientific research and business collaboration
In 2024, the RCF continued to support and strengthen clusters of competence and research environments. The RCF spent 28% of its 2024 funding budget, or 138 million euros, on supporting competence clusters, international cooperation within the clusters, and research environments.
Finnish Flagships are research environments with an international edge. Tens of thousands of FTEs are performed in the Finnish Flagships, and non-Finnish researchers account for more than a third of them. The Flagships actively cooperate with the business and other sectors, and they contribute to creating thousands of new jobs in Finland.