EP PerMed Partnership Call JTC2027

Funding is provided in the form of a grant. The Funding Agency’s share of the project’s eligible costs is 80 per cent. 

The funding is intended for a research project to be carried out by the applicant, not for purchasing research from a third party.  In the case of joint international projects, foreign participants must secure their funding from other sources. The Funding Agency’s funding is intended only for Finnish research organisations. 

The funding is intended for research projects whose results are public and widely available for use by businesses.

The beneficiary must disseminate the results actively, extensively and without discrimination. The dissemination of research results may be part of a funded project. The research project must have a high-quality plan for disseminating the research results. Funding can also be used to identify international partners and to prepare an international follow-up or expansion project, if such preparation is an appropriate part of the research and is included in the approved project plan.

A project may include costs arising from, for example, the organised exchange of information or researcher mobility in order to carry out international cooperation. Researcher mobility must involve research activities that genuinely benefit the project. 

Funding 

• must not be used for unrequited expenditures, such as awarding grants
• must not be used for teaching
• must not be used for economic activities, such as contract research or consultancy for companies. If the research requires case examples or research problems provided by private businesses, their use must directly support the testing of the research hypothesis, and the results obtained must be freely available for publication and usable by the research organisation without restriction.  
• must not be used to cover the costs of foreign participants in a joint project 
• may not be transferred to a third party in any way (as defined in Section 7.3 of the Act on Discretionary Government Grants).

Funding can be granted for the total costs incurred by the research project (referred to as the ‘total cost model’). The eligible costs are defined in more detail in the standard terms and conditions for funding public research. Funding terms and conditions for public research funding (pdf)

If participants in a joint project make joint purchases in it, each participant must budget for its share of these costs in its own project. This also applies to the coordination of a joint project.

The earliest date from which research project costs can be approved is the date on which the funding decision is approved. Project costs must be based on project accounting and reliable tracking of working hours. The project’s start date must be chosen so that the organisation can ensure that costs associated with funded projects can be recorded reliably. Projects must be planned so that work does not begin until the applicant has received a funding decision.

Eligibility check -phase

1)   In the eligibility assessment conducted immediately after the pre-proposal deadline, the following requirement must be met:

• The applicant must be a research organisation in mainland Finland.

2)   In the eligibility assessment conducted immediately after the full proposal deadline, the following requirements must be met:

• The applicant must be a research organisation in mainland Finland.
• The research project has established links with business and industry. 
  • The public research project has a steering group.
  • At least three (3) companies that may utilise the research results must have committed to participating in the steering group of the public research project.
• If the applicants are two research organisations, or one research organisation without a Finnish company participating in the same consortium with its own research and development project for which it is applying for funding from the Funding Agency, companies that are potential users of the results must contribute at least 10 per cent of the funding for the Finnish research organisation’s project. 
  • Resources from companies made available without payment (in-kind contributions) are not taken into account.
  • The funding must be unrequited, and the company may not require services such as consulting in exchange for funding or other contributions.
  • The companies must have confirmed their funding commitments using the Company’s notification of participation in the project form. Only signed forms submitted to the Funding Agency by the national application deadline will be taken into account in the assessment of applications.
• If a company and a research organisation apply as members of the same consortium, the research organisation’s budget must not exceed 60 per cent of the combined total costs of the Finnish applicants’ projects.

National funding decision -phase

The following conditions must be met by the deadline for submitting the national funding application:

• The applicant must be a research organisation in mainland Finland.
• The applicant holds sufficient intellectual property rights to carry out the research plan and utilise the results.
• The results of the project will be made public after the project ends. More detailed information on the rights related to research results and their public availability is available in the standard terms and conditions for public research funding.
• If a company and a research organisation apply as members of the same consortium, the research organisation’s budget must not exceed 60 per cent of the combined total costs of the Finnish applicants’ projects.
• The research project or joint project has established links with business and industry. 
  • The public research project has a steering group.
  • At least three (3) companies that may utilise the research results must have committed to participating in the steering group of the public research project.
• If the applicants are two research organisations, or one research organisation without a Finnish company participating in the same consortium with its own research and development project for which it is applying for funding from the Funding Agency, companies that are potential users of the results must contribute at least 10 per cent of the funding for the Finnish research organisation’s project. 
  • Resources from companies made available without payment (in-kind contributions) are not taken into account 
  • The funding must be unrequited, and the company may not require services such as consulting in exchange for funding or other contributions.
  • The companies must have confirmed their funding commitments using the Company’s notification of participation in the project form (docx). Only signed forms submitted to the Funding Agency by the national application deadline will be taken into account in the assessment of applications.

Applications are evaluated by an international evaluation panel in terms of excellence, impact and implementation (For more information on the evaluation of applications, see the EP PerMed call announcement). In the national evaluation, the Funding Agency verifies that the applicant and the project comply with the national funding terms and conditions, including applicant eligibility and the eligibility of costs. The international panel’s assessment of scientific quality is not repeated at national level. Instead, the Funding Agency makes the final funding decision based on the panel’s ranking, the national funding terms and conditions, and the available funding.

 General terms and conditions for funding public research

Applicants are advised to contact the Business Finland contact person before submitting their pre-proposals.

Norma Saha
norma.saha (at) businessfinland.fi

Helena Myllyharju
helena.myllyharju (at) businessfinland.fi

Submit the application through the Funding Agency’s online service using the Co-Research application template. You can review the questions on the application form in advance here: application questions.

Attach a reference to your application by selecting ‘EP Personalized Medicine’ on the Basic Application Details tab of the Application Form under the Business Finland Programme section.

In the case of a joint project involving several research organisations, each participant applies for funding for their own project through a separate application. We ask that participants in joint projects name their projects in such a way that they can be identified as part of the same overall project. 

Attach the following to your application:

1. Project plan
2. Signed notifications of project participation from companies 

Funding is provided as a grant. Grants are awarded to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for research projects for up to 50% of the project’s eligible costs, and to mid-cap and large companies for up to 40% of the project’s eligible costs. When the project consists entirely of industrial research, the grant amount may be increased by up to 10%.

To ensure the impact of the funding, the project’s estimated total costs must be significant relative to the scale of the applicant’s business operations and, for companies, must amount to at 

The funding must be used for research and development activities as defined in Section 2 of the Government Decree on Funding for Research, Development and Innovation Activities (1444/2014).

The project content can be a combination of project research, development, and piloting. 

Industrial research refers to the part of a project in which new knowledge and skills are acquired and developed to build capacity for future development work, and which meets the definition of industrial research laid down in Government Decree (1444/2014).

Experimental development means acquiring, combining, shaping and using existing scientific, technological, business and other relevant knowledge and skills with the aim of developing new or improved products, processes or services. Routine or periodic changes do not constitute experimental development, even if such changes represent improvements.

Eligible costs are described in the Standard Terms and Conditions for Business Research and Development Funding. 

Only purchases and work covered by a written contract or purchase order made after the funding application became pending may be approved for the project. A binding purchase agreement should not be entered into before the application is submitted. In exceptional cases, a purchase order placed for carrying out a project before the funding application becomes pending may be approved only if the order or contract includes a provision stating that the purchase will be cancelled if the funding decision is negative. Even in this case, costs are eligible only from the project start date at the earliest.

The Funding Agency may approve expenses for a project no earlier than when the funding application becomes pending and the Agency has obtained the basic information necessary to begin processing the application.

Eligibility check -phase

1)   In the eligibility assessment conducted immediately after the pre-proposal deadline, the following requirement must be met:

• • The applicant must be a company conducting business from a permanent place of business in Mainland Finland and have a Finnish business ID.
  • The company is not considered to be in difficulty under EU State aid rules.
  • The applicant has sufficient resources to implement the project.

2)   In the eligibility assessment conducted immediately after the full proposal deadline, the following requirements must be met:

• • The applicant must be a company conducting business from a permanent place of business in Mainland Finland and have a Finnish business ID.
  • The company is not considered to be in difficulty under EU State aid rules.
  • The company has no barriers to funding (see Barriers to funding) that it cannot credibly remedy before the funding decision is made
  • The project is a research and development project
  • The applicant has sufficient resources to implement the project.
  • The share of public funding in the company’s research and development investments must not become disproportionately large.

National funding decision -phase

The following conditions must be met by the deadline for submitting the national funding application:

• The applicant must be a company conducting business from a permanent place of business in Mainland Finland and have a Finnish business ID.
• The company has a credible total funding plan for the duration of the project. In addition to the company’s self-funded share of the development project, it must be able to cover the costs incurred by the project before receiving a grant from the Funding Agency. The company must also be able to finance its other business activities during the development project. Funding from the Funding Agency is disbursed retrospectively based on reports and expense statements. At least 10% of the awarded grant will only be paid after the final report has been approved and if the project has incurred sufficient eligible costs. The company must have the financial capacity to commercially exploit the results of the project and continue operations after the project ends. 
• The applicant must have sufficient human resources to implement the project.
  • The minimum requirement is a committed team of two people working in Finland. 
  • At least one team member must work full-time in the applicant company. The other person’s contribution may also consist of the part-time contributions of more than one person (for example, two people who each devote 50% of their working time to the company).
  • Meeting the minimum requirement is a prerequisite for an application to be considered; it does not mean that the team’s expertise, experience or resources are sufficient. These will be assessed as part of the overall evaluation of the application (see ‘Criteria for granting funding’).
•  A large enterprise (See definitions) must spend at least 40% of the project costs in a grant-funded project and at least 15% of the project costs in a loan-funded project on services purchased from small and medium-sized enterprises or research organisations. Alternatively, the encouraging effect of the funding on cooperation and networking can be assessed through the network cooperation implemented in the Co-Innovation project.

General obstacles to granting and payment of funding: Funding obstacles

Funding will also not be granted if:

• The applicant is a self-employed individual or sole trader. 
• The applicant is a company registered in the Åland Islands with no fixed place of business or operations in mainland Finland, and the project results will not be utilised in the operations of any place of business in mainland Finland. The existence of a fixed place of business requires sufficient geographical and temporal permanence.

Applications are evaluated by an international evaluation panel in terms of excellence, impact and implementation (For more information on the evaluation of applications, see the EP PerMed call announcement). In the national evaluation, the Funding Agency verifies that the applicant and the project comply with the national funding terms and conditions, including applicant eligibility and the eligibility of costs. The international panel’s assessment of scientific quality is not repeated at national level. Instead, the Funding Agency makes the final funding decision based on the panel’s ranking, the national funding terms and conditions, and the available funding.

Funding granted by the Funding Agency is discretionary, and the evaluation takes into account not only the company’s financial situation and the content of the project but also the company’s resources for carrying out the R&D project alongside its other business operations, the share of public funding in the company’s R&D investments in previous years, the implementation of past projects and project obligations, the achievement of the objectives of past projects, and the utilisation of their results

Project plan 

• The project plan is sufficiently clear and detailed enough to support a funding decision and reliable project monitoring.
• The project plan, resources and schedule are credible and appropriate.
• Concrete and measurable objectives have been set for the project, which can be used to evaluate its success.

Project impact and plan for further development

• The applicant has a realistic overall plan for R&D activities, including EU or other international R&D cooperation during or after the project.
• The project will generate new knowledge and build networks that are necessary for refining and implementing the follow-up plan.
• Team competence and commitment 
• The team has versatile, wide-ranging and complementary competence and experience in the technology used in the solution, the industry and international business.
• The applicant has a clear understanding of the required competences and a plan for strengthening the team.
• The company’s founders, investors, board and team are credibly committed to the solution and the targeted growth.
• Financial resources and plan for continued funding
• The applicant has sufficient financial resources to implement the project.
• The applicant has a credible plan for continued funding to further develop and commercialise the solution.
• The company has realistic prospects of attracting private investment.

In addition, for foreign-owned companies and their projects, the following impacts of the funding and related risks are assessed as a whole:

• The increase in business value accrues to a Finnish company funded by the Funding Agency.
• Indirect impacts on Finland, such as leveraging private growth investments, international innovation cooperation, developing expertise of significance to the national economy, the project’s impact on the development of growth areas or the facilitation of system-level innovations.

Impact of funding

• Funding may be granted only if it has an impact on at least one of the following aspects:
  • The project increases in scope and becomes more networked.
    • The scope of the project expands in such a way that the company increases its own investment alongside the public investment.
    • The number of personnel assigned to R&D activities or the level of networking increases.
  • The project’s scope of application expands. 
    • The project produces results that can be utilised more widely.
    • A more ambitious project aiming for significantly greater results.
  • Project implementation accelerates.
    • The project will be completed in a shorter time than it would be without support.
  • The company’s total R&D expenditure increases.
    • A significant increase in the beneficiary’s total R&D expenditure compared with other companies operating in the same market.
• The Funding Agency does not fund projects that would be realised regardless of public funding 

Standard terms and conditions for business research and development activities

Applicants are advised to contact the Business Finland contact person before submitting their pre-proposals.

Norma Saha
norma.saha (at) businessfinland.fi

Helena Myllyharju
helena.myllyharju (at) businessfinland.fi

Applications are submitted through Innovation Funding Agency Business Finland’s online service. In the application, the applicant must appoint a contact person and a responsible project leader, who must both be employed by the beneficiary or have a position of responsibility in the organisation. 

An application form can only be created by a person listed in the Trade Register as the company’s authorised representative who has the right to represent the company alone, or by a person who has been granted Suomi.fi authorisation. Go to the Suomi.fi authorisations page, where you can grant or request the authorisation called ‘Applying for corporate financing’. Read more

Attach a reference to your application by selecting ‘EP Personalized Medicine’ on the Basic Application Details tab of the Application Form under the Business Finland Programme section.

The funding application required from all companies consists of the following sections:

• An application form to be filled out in the online service, which includes questions about the applicant company and its business, market, competitive advantage, and the market need for the solution being developed.
• Mandatory appendices to be completed in the online service. These forms include:
  • Appendix 1: The Project Plan form, which is required to assess the project’s eligibility for funding
  • Appendix 2: Company Background Information form (for unlisted companies)

Unlisted SMEs and mid-cap companies (See definitions) are also required to submit the following:

• Income statement and balance sheet (account-specific, detailed versions) generated by the accounting system no more than two months ago. The income statement must cover the period beginning at the start of the current financial year.
• Cash flow forecast. Use the Excel template in the online service titled ‘Cash flow forecast’. If the project duration is more than one year, also complete tabs T2, T4 and T7 in the Excel file.

APPENDIX 1: Project Plan

An essential part of the application is a sufficiently detailed and clear project plan. 

A standardised project plan ensures that all the necessary information is available at once.

• Please read the instructions for filling in the project plan template (PDF)
• View the project plan template(docx)

Fill in the project plan in the online service.

APPENDIX 2: Company information

All companies – except publicly listed ones – must fill in the company background form in the online service.

• View the Company Background Information form (xlsx).

OTHER APPENDICES: 

SME and mid-cap companies (See definitions) must also submit the following company financial information as an appendix to their application:

• Income statement and balance sheet (account-specific, detailed versions) generated by the accounting system no more than two months ago. The income statement must cover the period beginning at the start of the current financial year.
• Monthly cash flow forecast for the project period (from one month before the start of the project to two months after the end of the project).
• Annual forecast of profit and funding (previous financial year and three forecasts)

Excel spreadsheets for submitting financial information

• Cash Flow Forecast on Tabs 1 and 2
• T2/T4/T7 on tabs 3–5

All the forms can be completed in the online service.