Support for ground-breaking research at the University of Oulu

The University of Oulu has a long track record of hosting MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships. The experience makes the university well-equipped to manage the projects and ensures a smooth fellowship and the necessary support for the researcher.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships supports post-doctoral research and careers with two types of fellowships:

• European Postdoctoral Fellowships: for researchers moving within Europe or coming to EU Member State or an associated country from any country in the world.
• Global Postdoctoral Fellowships: for researchers based in an EU Member State or an associated country and moving outside of Europe. Fellowship includes a mandatory one-year return period to the host institute in Europe.

The duration of the fellowship is 1-2 years for European Fellowship and 2-3 years for Global Fellowships. The grant provides an allowance to cover your living, travel, and family costs. The research and training costs and overhead of the host institution are also supported.

Who can apply?

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships funds researchers looking to enhance their career development by working abroad. It provides grants for experienced researchers to support their mobility, research project and training both within and outside of Europe. The scheme:

• Covers all research areas
• Is aimed at researchers with a doctoral degree and maximum 8 years of research experience after PhD by the time of the call deadline in September annually
• All nationalities can apply
• Mobility is a must: the researcher must not have resided in the country of the beneficiary, in this case Finland, more than 12 months in the 36 months before call deadline
• Find a potential supervisor to collaborate with at the University of Oulu

Support for the University of Oulu MSCA Applicants

The University of Oulu Research and Project Services team will help you with the proposal preparations. Through our MSCA PF support process you will be able to:

• get a technical eligibility check
• participate in virtual information sessions and proposal preparation online course
• get access to an online platform with useful materials and tips for proposal writing
• have your draft proposal reviewed

Contact

Support process will run during the MSCA PF Call period: May-September annually.

Your contact at the Research and Project Services is Monika Luukkonen, monika.luukkonen@oulu.fi

The University of Oulu offers comprehensive support system for all interested Research Council of Finland applicants.

The Research Council of Finland has two main calls annually for research: Academy Research Fellowship and Academy Project Funding.

Academy Research Fellowship

• Provides four-year funding for post-doctoral researchers who have completed their first PhD 2-7 years ago
• Applications of any nationality in all research fields
• The fellowship is intended to boost the recipient’s career and persons holding a permanent and senior position in research (professor, assistant/associate professor, research director etc.) are not eligible to apply.

Academy Project Funding

• Four-year project funding for individual research teams or consortia formed of two or more research teams
• Applications of any nationality (but need to have close connections to Finland and the funding needs to be handled through a Finnish university) in all research fields
• PIs with significant merits in research ((associate) professor-level or docent)

Support for the Research Council of Finland Applicants

The Research and Project Services will help you with all phases of your proposal process, from training and preparation to finalizing. Through our Research Council of Finland support process, you will be able to:

• participate in events and workshops (e.g., Academy Camp, a series of events and supported writing, is organized annually for Fellowship applicants in the months running up to the closing date)
• get access to annotated proposal templates
• have your draft proposal reviewed
• get help with drawing up the budget for your project

The deadlines for the applications for the fellowships are in January, annually. Our support process starts September-time, and you are welcome to contact Research and Project Services as soon as you start considering applying for a grant.

Contact

If you are interested in Research Council of Finland funding at the University of Oulu, please contact Research Funding Specialist Terhi Kuusisto, terhi.kuusisto@oulu.fi

The University of Oulu has won several ERC grants at all levels (Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, and Proof of Concept), which encompass extensive expertise across the university.

If you have the ambition to lead your own research team in the pursuit of a frontier project, the University of Oulu has all the resources to help you achieve your dream.

Support for the University of Oulu ERC Applicants

The Research and Project Services at the University of Oulu accompany ERC applicants from the pre-award to the post-award phase. This is the support the researchers can expect:

Pre-proposal phase

• General information and training sessions
• Possibility to use bibliometric analysis to make a pre-assessment of scientific performance

Proposal phase

• Peer Support Workshops to learn and hear experiences from ERC applicants, grantees, panel members, and/or evaluators
• Annotated proposal templates
• Proposal review and mentoring services: possibility to have Research Funding Specialists, peers and external experts review draft proposals and/or parts of them
• Support for budget preparation

Submission phase

• Mandatory supporting documents (e.g., Letter of Commitment of the Host Institute) will be provided by the Research and Project Services.
• Support for filling in the administrative parts of the proposal

Interview phase

The Academy of Finland organizes interview training for the Starting and Consolidator Grant applicants who are invited for the interview.

The Research and Project Services can organize interview coaching tailored to the needs of the Principal Investigator (PI):

• In-house mock panel interview: the aim of the mock panel is to simulate the interview situation and provide the PI(s) a possibility to practice the presentation and receive questions and feedback from peers on the scientific part of the ERC proposal.
• Presentation skills coaching: PI(s) will have 1-2 private coaching sessions to practice the presentation and get feedback and tips on the presentation techniques from a communications professional.
• Graphic designer services will be provided to finalize the look and feel of the presentation.

Post-proposal phase

• Evaluation summary report meeting with the respective Research Funding Specialist to discuss the evaluation results and next steps
• ERC Interviewees: Researchers who have been interviewed but not selected for the ERC funding may get from 10 000€ to 30 000 € incentive from the university to support their next ERC application. In this case, the funding will be transferred to the respective research unit. Precondition for granting the funding is that the researcher agrees to submit an ERC proposal in the next possible ERC call.
• ERC Grantees: The University of Oulu supports researchers who have received an ERC grant with a strategic support package. After a positive funding decision, the researcher will negotiate the package together with the Dean of the Faculty and Vice Rector for Research. The package can include, for example, a tenure track position or other strategic support.

Contact

If you are considering submitting an ERC proposal, please contact us as early as possible to learn what kind of support services are available for you. Your contact at the Research and Project Services is Monika Luukkonen, monika.luukkonen@oulu.fi

Pillar II (Global challenges & European industrial competitiveness) funds top-down Research and Innovation activities of large consortia.

University of Oulu has long experience in European funded projects and is well equipped to manage large-scale projects with multiple international partners. We are engaged in many Horizon Europe projects both as a coordinator and a partner, and actively searching for opportunities to collaborate on new proposals. Should you be interested in collaborating with us, look at our focus areas and funded projects at: https://www.oulu.fi/en/research

Support for the Horizon Europe Consortium Project Applicants

Our Research and Project Services offer general proposal preparation support for all University of Oulu researchers planning to apply funding from Horizon Europe’s Pillar II topics. We organise proposal writing training, have annotated proposal templates and help you with the administrative forms and answer your questions related to the funding. For coordinators of Pillar II RIA/IA proposals, we offer a dedicated support scheme. The support scheme consists of training, fit-for-call – analysis, an impact workshop, proposal review services, graphic design, and hands-on support for putting together the various sections of the proposal (data management, gender, management & coordination, budget, DEC). In addition (subject to currently available funding), we can offer financial support to cover a month or two of the coordinator’s salary. There is an internal call for the coordinator support twice a year (usually in May and October).

Contact

Your contact at the Research and Project Services is Kirsi Ojutkangas, kirsi.ojutkangas@oulu.fi