A university-level support team has now been established to advance the approval of research funding applications.

The funding support team is led by the university’s Research Services unit that plays a key role in the preparation of project-funding applications in research and development. Besides supporting the preparation of applications, the unit provides information on project funding and application periods, advice on contracts, and support for project implementation.

The team consists of a group of people from all the university’s faculties and units. They have experience of research and development projects – some of them plenty of it. The support team will increase and disseminate know-how on preparing research project applications at the university.

The tasks of the support team include the following:

• supporting ongoing project applications
• disseminating information and experience on competitive research
• disseminating expertise and encouraging researchers to apply for funding
• redirecting well-written applications for processing by the Research Services unit
• listening to external experts when needed.

The operational context of the team is new and the model is constructed in the first meeting. The operational model is to reinforce the application procedure and to make it transparent. When applying for research funding, researchers have the opportunity to utilise the expertise of the support team. The operational model is strongly influenced by the competitive funding application cycles and the time it takes for the Research Services to process applications.

The group has the following members:

• Research Services: Satu Pesola (chair), Petra Falin, Harri Malinen
• Arctic Centre: Kamrul Hossain, Tanja Joona, Sari Stark
• Faculty of Education: Marjaana Kangas, Päivi Rasi, Heli Ruokamo
• MTI: Minni Haanpää, Outi Rantala
• Faculty of Law: Rosa Ballardini, Jukka Similä
• Faculty of Art and Design: Mari Mäkiranta, Jonna Häkkilä, Satu Miettinen
• Faculty of Social Sciences: Ville Kivivirta, Tapio Nykänen, Minna Zechner
  

General information

The University of Lapland has four faculties – Education, Law, Art and Design, and Social Sciences – that award around 30 doctoral degrees annually. The University of Lapland also produces scientific knowledge on Arctic and northern issues to make sure that life in these regions will continue to flourish.

It aims to engage in top-quality and socially influential research through funding, especially international funding, that is competitive to a greater extent than before. In January 2019, the Government approved new models for the funding of universities and universities of applied sciences concerning the period 2021–2024. In its meeting in February 2019, the Board of our university outlined measures to implement the model and requirements for research and development.

The Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland is an international research institution and science centre that produces knowledge of the Arctic environment, society, and climate change, among other things. It engages in multidisciplinary and phenomenon-based research and disseminates the results to the general public.

The Multidimensional Tourism Institute (MTI) is formed by the tourism units of both the University of Lapland and Lapland University of Applied Sciences.  The professional community also includes the experts on tourism and related fields of Rovaniemi Municipal Federation of Education (REDU) and Kemi-Tornionlaakso Municipal Education and Training Consortium Lappia. MTI is a flagship of tourism and lays the groundwork for the success of the industry as a whole.

Further information

Antti Syväjärvi, Vice-Rector for Research, 0400 606244

Satu Pesola, Research Services Manager, 040 484 4399