Univ. Oulu Emerging Program Project Call 2023 - 2026

Emerging project call instructions

Commitment letter to the project application

The call for emerging projects in the strategic focus areas aims to connect the research multidisciplinary across disciplines with the spearhead projects of the Focus Institutes at the University of Oulu. The program will facilitate the linking of best practices and best science to the larger part of the university´s research and open up new channels to improve the impact of top science.

The program consists of maximum 20 projects, each with one doctoral researcher position, suitable to emerging research themes – within the context of the five focus areas coordinated by the focus institutes Biocenter Oulu (Lifelong health) Eudaimonia (Understanding humans in change), Infotech (Digitalization and smart society) and Kvantum (Changing climate and northern environment and Sustainable materials and systems). The focus institutes will include the emerging project leaders in all their activities such as seminars, project leader meetings and brain storming. Five 4-year doctoral researcher positions (with a partial salary funding) can be allocated to each focus institute for 2023-2026, totaling maximum 20 positions.

The Emerging program is targeted to projects led by starting group leaders, who build an association between their own emerging research and top research projects in the strategic focus (encompassing Flagships, Academy and Nordic Centres of Excellence, European Research Council´s projects, Academy professors´ projects and focus institute spearhead projects). The aim of the program is to facilitate renewal of the university´s research by supporting the emerging projects’ group leaders and to give them a possibility to develop alongside internationally top-level research. The leader of the emerging project is the applicant.

Eligibility criteria of the emerging project leader

Emerging project applications may be submitted by researchers who at the application deadline have completed their first doctorate 2 -9 years ago. The emerging project leader must have an existing affiliation at the University of Oulu. Scholarship researchers can also submit the emerging project application. The leader must not work (is not allowed to work) in a research group that hosts a top research project. The leader must have docent-level qualifications or just about to achieve those such that he/she can serve as doctoral degree Principal Supervisor. He/she must also have an own developing/emerging research theme and a team under creation. The applicant should indicate how his/her research plan makes the use of the expertise in the top projects and the broader scientific community at our university (co-operation). Also, the applicants are asked to describe the potential impact of their research.