The Academy of Finland – Finland

The Academy of Finland (AKA) is a public funding agency providing funding for scientific research, researcher training and the improvement of research capacities. AKA’s mission is to fund high-quality scientific research by covering the full spectrum of scientific disciplines, to provide expertise in science and science policy, and to strengthen the position of science and research in society.

AKA funds cutting-edge and innovative research aiming at scientific breakthroughs, and the funding is provided on the basis of open competition and independent peer review. Furthermore, AKA supports and facilitates researcher training and research careers, internationalization and the application of research results. AKA participates in several international and European initiatives such as ERA-Nets and Joint Programming Initiatives. Since March 2012 Professor Heikki Mannila is the President of AKA.

There is strong research activity within Finland in the fields of the Flagships and the Flagship-pilots, and hence AKA’s participation in FLAG-ERA is expected to provide opportunities for fruitful European research collaboration and networking in the fields of FLAG-ERA.