Application guidelines for TIA Postdoc call

Please read the guidelines for application before applying.

The link to the grant application system is at the bottom of the page. Please note, the application form opens 3.3.2025.

Watch the recording of the TIA Postdoc application info session from here.

Changes to the 2025 TIA Postdoc application guidelines:

The project must be initiated and the postdoctoral researcher must be appointed to the project within six months of the funding being granted. The project must start between 1.10.2025 and 1.4.2026.
The postdoctoral researcher must not have a current or previous employment relationship with the partner company and must not be a significant owner of the company.

What is the funding for?

Funding will be awarded to the academic party, i.e. a university or a research institute. The funding is primarily intended to cover the salary costs of the postdoc researcher for the duration of the project.

TIA funding also requires an industrial partner who is committed to the project and actively involved in defining the research questions, executing the project and supervising the postdoc. The industrial partner will support the project through an in-kind contribution by providing workspace at the company premises along with other necessary resources.

Who applies for funding?

The funding is applied by the project’s Principal Investigator (PI), who completes the application form. The application can also be completed by a delegate authorized by the PI. The Principal Investigator is a senior-level researcher employed by the academic partner organisation. The PI supervises the work of the post doc for the duration of the project. The PI shall be primarily in the employ of the academic organization for the duration of the project, not in the employ of the Industrial Partner, for example.

The postdoc researcher does not need to be identified at the time of the funding application; they can also be appointed after the funding decision. The researcher must be appointed within six months of receiving the funding, by which time they must have completed their doctorate. The postdoctoral researcher cannot have a current or previous employment relationship with the partner company and must not hold a significant ownership stake in the company (e.g. board membership or more than 5% ownership of the company).

What outcomes are expected?

The project should clearly demonstrate the impacts of the collaboration for both parties and beyond. The project is expected to produce high-class scientific publications and scientific knowledge and/or intellectual property with high-impact future innovation potential.

For what period is project funding provided?

Projects are funded for a total period of 24 months, and it shall primarily be used over the period of two years. Postdocs are expected to divide their time equally between the academic and industrial partner. Note that the working periods do not have to be continuous, but can be allocated flexibly depending on the project plan.

What is expected from the industrial partner?

The industrial partner shall be a company operating in Finland and having relevant functions related to the project in Finland. The industrial partner is expected to provide working facilities and infrastructure for the postdoc. The industrial partner will also provide supervision for the postdoc researcher throughout the project. The funding is intended for companies that are going concerns and that have at least one full-time employee.

The postdoc works with the industrial partner for 12 months. The postdoc’s salary will be paid by the academic partner organization through the funding awarded. The postdoc will remain employed by the academic organization for the duration of the project.

The industrial partner will automatically be invited to fill in their own form when the application by the academic partner is submitted. The invitation will be sent to the email address of the industrial partner indicated in the application.

In the industrial partner’s application form, we ask the industrial partner to provide the following information:

Basic information about the company
Basic information about the postdoc’s supervisor in the company
Short CV of the company contact person (to be submitted as a PDF attachment)
Description of the company’s in-kind contribution to the project
Evaluation of the anticipated impact of the project for the company.

General terms of the funding and IPR issues

The Foundation will sign a project agreement, in accordance with the general terms of the funding, with the academic partner that receives TIA funding. The approval of the general terms of funding and the signing of the project agreement are, in case of a positive funding decision, a prerequisite for the payment of the funding.

The Foundation recommends that the academic partner and the business partner agree in writing on IP rights, confidentiality and other issues related to the project before the start of the collaboration. The Foundation will not be a party to any contracts concerning the results of the project. The general conditions for funding provide general guidelines on IPR issues.

Applicants are advised to familiarise themselves with the general terms of the funding before submitting an application:

General terms of TIA funding (in English and In Finnish).

Preparing a project budget

Funding for the 24-month project will be awarded to the academic partner. The postdoc working on the project is employed by the academic partner organization for the duration of the project. The granted funding will cover overheads in accordance with the full cost model for the 12-month period. In addition, funding for other costs can be applied for the project. For the 12 months spent at the industrial partner, the postdoc’s salary and other personnel costs are funded. The time spent by the postdoc in different organisations can be flexibly distributed according to the project plan.

Example of two-year project costs:

1st year

Time spent in different organizations:

4 months in an academic organisation
4 months in a company
4 months in an academic organisation

Costs:

Overheads in accordance with full cost model (8 months)
Salary and indirect employee costs (12 months)
Travel costs (for 8 months)
Materials costs (for 8 months)

2nd year

Time spent in different organizations

8 months in a company
4 months in an academic organisation

Costs:

Overheads in accordance with full cost model (4 months)
Salary and indirect employee costs (12 months)
Travel costs (for 4 months)
Materials costs (for 4 months)
Other costs (e.g. publication fees)

How to make your application

The application shall be completed via Foundation’s online grant system by the PI of the project or a person authorized by the PI.
The application is completed in English.
A postdoctoral researcher is appointed to the project either at the application stage or no later than six months after the funding has been granted. At the time of appointment, the postdoctoral researcher must have completed their doctoral degree, and no more than ten years may have passed since the defense. When assessing the time elapsed since the defense, factors such as maternity, paternity, parental, or caregiving leave, military or civil service, long-term illness, or other exceptional circumstances, such as residence in a conflict zone, are taken into account.
The academic partner and the industrial partner jointly prepare a project plan and an assessment of the anticipated impact of the project (impact plan), which will be attached to the application
The application process is started by the PI (or an authorized person) in the online application system. Once the academic partner’s application has been submitted, the industrial partner will receive an invitation via email to complete their own section. The industrial partner will have a further seven days after the application deadline to provide the required information.
The application can be reviewed and revised within 24 hours after submission to FRIF, even after the deadline. If you want to complement or make changes to the application or its attachments after that, please contact FRIF without delay. The additional information will be taken into account if timetable permits.
Submitted applications will be forwarded for processing by the Foundation and for a review by external reviewers. All applications will be reviewed by external experts in scientific research and business.
The Board of the Finnish Research Impact Foundation will make funding decisions based on the reviews and notify applicants in early fall 2025.
The projects will start between 1 Oct 2025 and 1 Apr 2026.
If a postdoc researcher has not been identified during the application stage, actions to hire a postdoc researcher must be initiated promptly after the grant of funding, with the aim that the project can start by no later than April 1st 2026.

NB! We recommend that you prepare your application in good time to ensure that the necessary documents are ready and that a letter of commitment by the academic partner has been signed.

The project plan

The project plan (max 5 pages with references, submitted as a PDF file) should include the following information in a concise format and in the order indicated below:

Title of proposal
Objectives and research questions
Concept and methodology
Implementation: project work plan with deliverables and milestones
List of participants and their relevant merits
Ethics and security: Does the project require a permit from the research site and/or an ethics committee?
Risk assessment (potential factors that could jeopardise the success of the project)
Publication and communication of the results

Impact plan

The one-page impact plan describes the potential impacts of the project. You can use the structure below if you wish. For more tips, click here.

How will the project benefit academic research?
What kind of impact can the project have on the company and the industry more broadly?
What factors contribute to the realisation of these impacts?
What is the significance of the potential impact from the perspective of the Finnish economy and society in the long term?

Attachments to application

Letter of commitment by the academic partner. Please contact your research organization for information if needed.
Short CV of PI (max 2 pages, see instructions here).
Publication list of PI (10 most important publications relevant to the research plan)
Project plan (max 5 pages, see instructions above for preparing a project plan)
Impact plan (max 1 page, see guidelines above)

Attachments concerning the postdoc (if named at the application stage):

Short CV of the postdoc (max 2 pages, see instructions here)
Publication list of the postdoc (5 most important publications relevant to the research plan)
If needed, documentation of post doc researchers’s special circumstances if more than 10 years have passed since doctoral defense: maternity, paternity, parental or childcare leave, military or non-military service, or long-term illness or another special reason, such as residing in a conflict area.

In addition, the following attachments are needed:

Industrial supervisor’s short cv (free form, max 2 pages. Note, this attachment will be attached to the Industrial Partner’s form)

All attachment files should be in PDF format.

Where to submit the application?

The application is completed and submitted via the online application system. The applicant will first need to register on the online application system. No paper copies are accepted. You can access the application system at the bottom of this page.

When will the applicants be informed of the decisions?

The call’s funding decisions will be published in early fall 2025. All applicants will be notified of the Foundation’s decision by email.

When can projects be started?

Projects shall start between 1.10.2025 and 1.4.2026.

FAQ

As budgeting is based on the full cost model, is it necessary for the applicant to have own funding as well?

The Foundation will cover all costs for the time spent in the academic organization (12 months), but overhead costs are not covered for the time spent in the company (12 months)

Is it possible for one company to be an Industrial Partner in several different applications with different PIs?

Yes.

Is it possible to form a consortium of different organizations?

Several collaborators can be involved in a project. However, the application is always made in the name of the academic organization and only one company can be named as the industrial partner to a project funded by the Foundation.

The application should include the industrial partner’s in-kind budget and a description of in-kind contributions. What does this mean?

The in-kind budget covers any resources that support the project, such as data, people, know-how, computation power, facilities, infrastructures, or technology. The minimum in-kind budget is the supervision and working premises provided for the postdoc researcher.

You say that the publication plan should support open access to research results. Could you give an example?

This may include planned scientific publications that provide open access, access to source codes, data, software applications, etc.

What should the letter of commitment by the academic partner include?

A commitment letter from the academic partner gives consent to the PI to apply for funding and guarantees the academic organization would partner the project in accordance with the funding terms and conditions. It should be signed by an authorized representative of the academic partner, usually the Dean of the PI’s faculty or department.

One of the required attachments to the application is a short CV for the postdoc. A publication list is also required. At the same time, you say that it is not necessary to name the postdoc at the application phase. How do these fit together?

The postdoc does not need to be named during the application phase, but can be appointed after the funding decision, at which point the necessary documentation must be provided. From the point of view of the application review process, it makes no difference whether or not the postdoc is named.

Is there any template for preparing the project plan?

The project plan should follow the guidelines set out in the application and on this Guidelines for application page. The project plan shall be no more than 5 pages and must contain the required sections.

You say that all applications will be reviewed by outside experts of scientific and industrial impact. Do these experts represent the majority of scientific fields? In other words, to how much detail should the application go in terms of the field of science?

All applications will be evaluated by two independent expert reviewers, at least one with a focus on scientific research in the field and one with a business focus in the given field.

Do any previous research projects with the industrial partner add value to the proposal and should they be mentioned in the application?

Previous collaboration must be mentioned on the application form. However, this does not affect the evaluation.

How is the salary for the time spent in the company technically budgeted at the academic partner organization?

For the time spent in the company, the postdoc’s salary is paid, as well as indirect employee costs, but not the overheads of the academic organization.

What factors should be considered when choosing an industrial partner, other than suitability for research? Domesticity, size?

The company can be of any size, however, it does have to be registered in Finland, have activities relevant to the project in Finland, and at least one full-time employee.

Sometimes novel information from research work with companies cannot be published when patents are being filed etc. If the results cannot be published immediately or within a year or two due to patent pending, does the patent “overrule” the articles in terms of publishing results?

The scientific and other results of the project shall be made available in accordance with the recommendations of open science. The results shall be made available for as open public distribution as possible, while observing intellectual property protection and adhering to the publication policy principles of scientific journals.

Can the funding be used for hiring short-term assistants for the summer, for example, to work with the postdoc?

Salary costs can only be budgeted for the postdoc researcher from the funding granted by the Foundation.

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