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Funding opportunities for researchers

Are you planning a research career at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) with external funding? Here we introduce funding opportunities for researcher fellowship at UEF.

UEF Research Services will help you in applying for research funding:

  • We offer trainings on various funding opportunities.
  • Comment research proposals to Academy of Finland and Horizon Europe Programmes.
  • Researchers working at the UEF can apply for UEF's strategic funding to support the preparatory of high-quality international research funding proposals. Funding can be used e.g. to salary costs for UEF employees for 1-2 months, travel costs and costs of consulting services.

Our UEF Funding Path shows you opportunities in different researcher career stages.

UEF Funding Path infographics.

Learn more about funding opportunities for your researcher career

ERC funding supports the highest quality research in Europe. It provides long-term funding for frontier, bottom-up, high-risk/high-gain research projects. The sole criterion in the proposal evaluation is scientific excellence. The applicants can be from any field or any nationality, as long as their research project is based in EU- or Associated County.

ERC funding offers a possibility to concentrate on research with visibility and recognition. UEF has hosted total of 11 ERC projects since the program was established.

You can explore more UEF’s research environments and researchers at UEF Connect. If you would like to apply for an ERC project at UEF, please send 1–2-page project idea paper, CV and publication list to UEF Research Services: tutkimuspalvelut-uef@uef.fi.

There are five types of ERC funding instruments:

  1. Starting Grants (StG) are targeted to early-stage researchers that have 2-7 years of experience since completion of PhD. The applicants should have a scientific track record that is showing great promise. The grant is aimed to support them to become independent research leaders.
  2. Consolidator Grants (CoG) support researchers that already have their research group but are not established yet. The applicant must have 7-12 years of experience since completion of PhD.
  3. Advanced Grants (AdG) are targeted to outstanding and established researchers that will continue their work to expand the frontiers of scientific knowledge. The applicants must have a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years.
  4. Synergy Grants (SyG) support groups 2-4 of researchers who combine their skills, knowledge, and resources to solve ambitious research problems.
  5. Proof of Concept is targeted to principal investigators that hold one of the above-mentioned grants and want to progress on the path from ground-breaking research towards innovation.

Support from the UEF Research Services to ERC applicants:

  • ERC Info Day organized in April.
  • A training session provided by an external consult. This event is typically organized in late May or early June.
  • Promising applicants are offered Comments on proposal drafts by an external consultant. If the applicant proceeds to the second stage (interview), they can utilize private training sessions provided by an external consult.

Applicants who are successful with their proposal and are granted the ERC funding, will receive strategic funding from UEF as indicated below:

  • ERC Advanced Grant 50 000 € per year.
  • ERC Consolidator Grant 30 000 € per year.
  • ERC Starting Grant 20 000 € per year.
  • For those who receive either a Starting or Consolidator grant are guaranteed a tenure track position at UEF.

For more information, please contact UEF Research Services: tutkimuspalvelut-uef@uef.fi.

We welcome applicants to Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) to work at UEF!

The objective of MSCA-PF is to support researchers’ careers and foster excellence in research. It targets researchers with maximum of eight years fulltime equivalent experience in research (from the award date of the doctoral degree) who wish to carry out their activities abroad, acquire new skills and develop their careers. Read more about of the MSCA PF funding.

The MSCA-PF call is open for applications annually from April to mid-September. There are two types of fellowships:

  1. European Fellowship: When you have not lived in Finland for more than 12 months during the past three years, you can apply fellowship to work at UEF for 12-24 months.
  2. Global Fellowship: When you are citizen or long-term resident of EU member state or Horizon Europe Associated Country, you can apply fellowship for 12-24 months to work outside Europe followed by a mandatory return phase of 1 year to an organisation based in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country, e.g. to UEF.

Support from the UEF Research Services for MSCA PF applicants:

  • A training session for applicants and their supervisors by external consultant, typically in June
  • Commenting of proposals
  • Support with proposal submission

The proposals must be written in close collaboration with UEF supervisor. You may explore for potential supervisor for your postdoctoral fellowship from UEF Connect portal.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at the UEF Research Services via email tutkimuspalvelut-uef@uef.fi if you plan to apply for MSCA-PF to UEF!

Are you planning to apply for the Academy Research Fellowship position at the University of Eastern Finland?

The Academy Research Fellowship funding promotes high-quality, high-impact research that stimulates renewal of science. The funding is intended for bottom-up research across all fields of science.

The goal of the Academy Research Fellowship funding is to support talented researchers in increasing their competencies and making significant career progress. Foreign researchers who already work or who will work in the Finnish scientific community may also apply for the funding.

  • The eligibility period is 2-7 years since the first doctorate.
  • The funding is granted for 4-years towards applicant's own salary, hiring a research team and/or other research costs.
  • Call open annually in December-January.

The UEF Research Services' support to applicants of Academy Research Fellowship:

  • Info event annually in November.
  • Training annually in November-December.
  • Feedback on research plan from the point of view of the call text.

More information about the Academy Research Fellowship positions on the website of the Academy of Finland.

Please contact the UEF Research Services via email tutkimuspalvelut-uef@uef.fi for more information and training materials.

A career path at UEF to well-performing Academy Research Fellowship applicants!

Researcher who have applied for the Academy Research Fellowship position at the UEF, but have not got funded, can apply for the UEF Research Fellow position at the UEF.

  • The researcher is eligible to apply if the Academy Research Fellowship application receives the score of 5 or 6 from the Academy evaluation, and the host institution for the application is the UEF.
  • The funding is granted to cover the applicant's own salary for 3 years.
  • Further information on the application procedure via e-mail after the Academy of Finland funding decisions in spring.
  • UEF Research Fellow position will start in the following September.

Learn more about a career path at UEF to well-performing Academy Research Fellow applicants.

For further information, please contact the UEF Research Services via email tutkimuspalvelut-uef@uef.fi.