The Research Council of Finland (RCF) has decided on the research projects to be funded in its main funding call. The RCF’s total funding awarded in the 2025 winter call comes to more than 220 million euros, granted for a wide range of research across different scientific disciplines. The funding goes towards 121 new Academy Research Fellows, twelve new Clinical Researchers and 269 new Academy Projects (counted by subproject). This vast array of research projects represents the international forefront of the research fields involved. The funded research will contribute to creating new knowledge and skills that will benefit society as a whole.

The Research Council of Finland’s (RCF) funding decisions are based on the results of international peer review. International peer review indicates the quality of the research in comparison to the international level. It allows the RCF to support the best projects and researchers and identify new research topics and perspectives.

The main criteria for awarding funding are a high scientific standard, research impact and scientific innovation. The competition for Academy Research Fellowship funding was fierce: the applicant success rate was below 12 per cent. In Academy Project Funding, the success rate was just under 14 per cent.

An Academy Research Fellowship has a four-year funding period. Clinical Researcher and Academy Project funding is granted for up to four years. The funding is granted to the host research organisations, which manage the use of the funding. The RCF monitors the impact of funded research.

The funded projects in biosciences, health and environmental research, for instance, are developing methods for assessing the effectiveness and fairness of healthcare systems. Projects in natural sciences and engineering research are investigating, for example, ways to extend the life of lithium-ion batteries. Funded projects in the field of social sciences and humanities research are developing, among other things, digital support for people in the early stages of cognitive decline to assist them in everyday conversations.

The RCF is the key provider of competitive research funding in Finland. The RCF provides long-term funding for bold research ideas. Through free competition between investigator-driven research ideas, the RCF boosts innovative research and improves scientific expertise to benefit Finland and the world. The scientific impact of RCF-funded research is clearly higher than on average for research in Finland.