With the new type of Rise to Challenge funding call, we are looking for the most impressive research initiatives to fund. New radical initiatives and innovative research ideas that could revolutionise the future markets now have a real opportunity to rise to challenge. The aim is for research organisations to radically broaden their competence base into new areas with the projects so that companies could exploit this expertise to increase their capabilities later on. What mission does the research team work towards?
The theme of this pilot call is digital solutions that promote safety and security. Business Finland is also preparing to launch funding calls under other themes in the future.
In recent years, Business Finland’s research funding for research organisations has mainly been allocated to projects in which companies exploiting the research results participate in steering and financing the research project from the beginning. This call, which is implemented in phases, will fund projects of research organisations with identified productivity benefits and/or international commercial potential that cannot yet be accurately assessed. The first phase of the funding call does not yet require the participation of companies.
Goals and themes of the rise to challenge pilot call
The aim of the call is to increase Finnish R&D competence, making Finland an international top-level pioneer in this area, and to generate expertise and capabilities for future growth sectors. The call supports the Government Programme’s goal of raising Finland’s research and development expenditure to 4% of GDP by 2030.
The main theme of the call is digital solutions that promote safety and security and continuity of operations for the needs of the defence sector, critical infrastructure, society, and businesses. Research perspectives may include, for example:
- Solutions for development methods, interoperability, production environments, operating methods and scaling that significantly enhance digital resilience.
- System-level resilience, such as the security, integrity, flexibility and resilience to shocks in digital supply chains.
- Research related to disruptive technologies (artificial intelligence, sensor fusion, quantum technology, etc.) that can be used to develop more proactive and intelligent solutions, such as new kinds of situational awareness systems.
- New telecommunications network solutions that significantly improve the resilience of society’s critical infrastructure.
Funding in phases
The maximum duration of an individual research project is five years. In this call, funding will be granted for the first phase of the research project, the maximum duration of the first phase being two years. Participation of companies is not required during this phase; instead, companies may be engaged as the project progresses. Based on the results of the first phase, the project may be granted further funding. Further funding requires that the goals set for the first phase have been achieved.
If funding is granted for the project’s second phase, this is made as a change decision to the project plan and the cost estimate and no new funding application is required. The aim of Business Finland is that the implementation and funding of the projects that have reached their goals in the first phase would continue to the second phase without interruption.
Both phases can be implemented in collaboration between research organizations.
Project selection criteria
- Significance and relevance of the mission to Finnish society
- The ambition and quality of the project plan, and the plan for engaging stakeholders to exploit the project’s results
- Researchers’ view of new business arising from the research
- Experience and managerial skills of the project manager
- Diverse expertise of the research team/teams in international comparison and their ambition level
- Initial resources and RDI capabilities and their planned development
- Quality of national and international networks of the research project
First phase max 2 years: Competency development and strengthening the resources
At the application phase, the key research questions and the research roadmap are defined. The mission of the research must be related to major societal needs and new business opportunities that arise from them.
In connection with the preparation of the application, the applicant and Business Finland specify measurable goals that will help to steer the project’s implementation and reporting as well as to monitor the project’s impacts. On the basis of these indicators, it is decided whether the project can be granted further funding after the first two-year period.
The project plan of the application must describe the mission, goals and plan for the entire project at a general level, as well as a more detailed plan for the first two-year phase with measurable goals and a cost estimate.
In connection with the implementation of the first phase of the research project, you should:
- assemble and strengthen your research resources
- identify interdisciplinary research needs and organise the collaboration, for example with the social sciences, humanities or creative industries.
- strengthen international research connections
- engage companies that will exploit the research results in their own R&D work for the second phase of the project
- outline other paths to exploit the results of the project
- specify the research plan for the second phase
The duration of the first phase is up to two years, and costs are eligible up to EUR 2.5 million, of which Business Finland will finance 80% (EUR 2 million).
Phase 1 result indicators
In its funding application, the research organisation must present indicators for assessing the results of phase 1, as well as to justify the progress to possible phase 2 of the research project (three mandatory and one optional indicator). The indicators presented must be relevant not only for the organisation of the project and the quality of research but also for the expected societal and business impacts.
Mandatory for all
- Initial researcher resources and a plan for their development
- Progress during the first phase towards the mission, i.e. the realisation of the project in accordance with the roadmap and the project plan
- Identification of exploitation paths and evidence of the engagement of the exploiting parties during the second phase of the research
Examples of an optional indicator (one optional)
- First phase research results and their (peer-reviewed) publications
- Multidisciplinary and international collaboration relationships, the goal and plan for participating in international calls
- Development of research infrastructures and the use of existing infrastructures
Second phase max 3 years: Conducting the research and ensuring its impact
The funding decision for the second phase depends on the results achieved in the first phase. The indicators set for all goals shall, as rule, be achieved.
In connection with the reporting of the first phase, the applicant must also submit a more detailed plan and cost estimate for the second phase of the project. The plan should include elaborated impact objectives for the second phase. If funding is granted for the project’s second phase, this is made as a change decision to the project plan and the cost estimate and no new funding application is required.
In the second phase, the research should proceed according to the plan specified in the previous phase. Alongside the research, further exploitation paths will be identified and links to the business community and other stakeholders will be further strengthened. The exploitation options include commercialisation paths realised through the founding of new companies. This phase includes applying for international research funding and building the necessary international networks.
The duration of the second phase is up to three years, and Business Finland’s funding for the project is EUR 3–5 million.
Applying for funding, funding levels and project selection
Only universities and other research organisations are funded in the call.
In the pilot call, we will grant EUR 10 million in research funding. The funding level is 80%, and the maximum funding for the first phase of an individual project is EUR 2 million. The project may be carried out in collaboration between research organisations.
The application is completed in Business Finland's Online service.
Select Co-Research as the funding service. No “notifications of participation in a project” forms need to be included in the application.
The actual project plan will be completed in a separate application template (docx) added as an appendix to the application. In joint projects, each research organisation should complete its own application with the relevant appendices. The parties to the joint project must use the same project name.
Schedule
The applicants are required to discuss the content and indicators of their research project with Business Finland before submitting their applications.
Book an appointment for a discussion
The funding call will close on 31 March 2025.
The authors of the project proposals that best meet the call criteria will be invited to pitch their project’s key idea to Business Finland’s evaluation panel in April.
