SUOMEN AKATEMIA

Their core work

The Academy of Finland is Finland's primary public research funding agency, responsible for financing high-quality scientific research across all disciplines. In H2020, their role is overwhelmingly as a national funding body participating in ERA-NET Cofund partnerships — they co-fund transnational research calls alongside other European funding agencies, enabling Finnish researchers to join international projects in areas like biodiversity, neurodegenerative diseases, water resources, and quantum technologies. They do not perform research themselves but shape research priorities and allocate national funds to align with European research agendas.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015-2018, the Academy focused heavily on policy dialogue, humanities research (HERA programmes), biodiversity conservation, and building public-public partnership infrastructure — essentially laying the groundwork for joint programming across Europe. From 2019 onward, the portfolio shifted toward more technology-oriented domains: FET and ICT research (CHIST-ERA IV), quantum technologies (QuantERA), open science, and complex socio-ecological systems. The environmental thread persisted throughout but grew more sophisticated, moving from biodiversity cataloguing toward climate-biodiversity intersections and governance processes.

The Academy is broadening from traditional environmental and social science funding toward technology-intensive domains (quantum, ICT) and increasingly investing in EU-Africa research partnerships.

How they like to work

The Academy of Finland never coordinates H2020 projects — all 35 funded participations are as a partner, reflecting its role as a national funding agency that joins multilateral consortia rather than leading them. With 425 unique partners across 73 countries, it operates as a highly connected hub in the European research funding landscape. This broad network means partnering with the Academy opens doors to an exceptionally wide range of national funding ecosystems across Europe and beyond.

One of the most broadly connected organisations in the dataset, with 425 unique consortium partners spanning 73 countries — reflecting its role as a funding agency that sits at the intersection of dozens of ERA-NET partnerships. Geographic reach extends well beyond Europe through EU-Africa initiatives (LEAP-AGRI, LEAP-RE) and international water cooperation (IC4WATER).

What sets them apart

As Finland's national research funding agency, the Academy is not a research performer but a research enabler — it brings Finnish national co-funding to transnational calls, which is essential for ERA-NET Cofund projects to function. For consortium builders, having the Academy on board signals that Finnish researchers will have access to national funding for their part of the work. Few organisations match its breadth of thematic coverage (environment, health, ICT, humanities, quantum) combined with the institutional authority to commit national research budgets.

Highlights from their portfolio

• LEAP-AGRI
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 552K) and represents the Academy's growing commitment to EU-Africa food security and sustainable agriculture partnerships.
• CHIST-ERA IV
  Second-largest funding (EUR 506K) and signals the Academy's strategic pivot toward future and emerging technologies in ICT, running through 2026.
• EJP RD
  The only COFUND-EJP in the portfolio (EUR 512K), focused on rare diseases with FAIR data principles — representing the Academy's deepest engagement in health research infrastructure.