Research Council of Finland: 2023 Name Change

In June 2023, the funding body long known internationally as the Academy of Finland began operating under a new English-language name: the Research Council of Finland. For research administrators, international collaborators, and anyone tracking grant agreements, CVs, or acknowledgement statements that reference the older name, the practical question is simple: is this the same organization, and does anything besides the name actually change? This guide explains what the 2023 rebrand did and did not alter, how the organization is structured and governed, what its current funding programs are called, and how international researchers and research offices should handle the naming transition in practice.

The 2023 name change: what actually changed, and what didn’t

The Board of the Academy of Finland decided on 5 June 2023 to adopt a new English-language name, Research Council of Finland, with the new name introduced immediately. This was announced directly by the organization, which described the change as bringing its international name in line with the naming conventions used by many other national research funders. Several details matter for anyone trying to determine whether a document, agreement, or citation using the old name is still valid:

The change is English-language only. The organization’s Finnish name, Suomen Akatemia, was not changed, and its Swedish name was likewise retained. “Academy of Finland” was specifically an English-language label that has now been replaced; the underlying Finnish institution did not rename itself domestically.
It is the same legal entity. The rebrand was a naming decision by the organization’s Board, not a merger, dissolution, or restructuring into a new body. Grant agreements, funding decisions, and other legal instruments issued under the “Academy of Finland” name before June 2023 were not invalidated or reissued as a result of the rename.
Internal units were renamed to match. At the same time, the organization’s research councils (its discipline-based decision-making panels) were renamed scientific councils in English. As part of that same update, the English name of what had been the Research Council for Culture and Society was changed to the Scientific Council for Social Sciences and Humanities, a wording change intended to better describe the disciplines the panel actually covers.
The web presence stayed put. The organization continues to operate at aka.fi, which is the authoritative source for current program names, deadlines, and structural details; this guide should be treated as an orientation, not a substitute for checking aka.fi/en directly before relying on any specific current-cycle detail.

Why this causes confusion for international researchers, and how to handle it

Because “Academy of Finland” was the organization’s English name for decades before 2023, it remains the name many international collaborators, co-investigators, journal author-affiliation fields, and older CVs still use, and it will keep showing up in historical documents indefinitely. That’s expected, not an error to correct retroactively. A few practical points for anyone navigating the transition:

Use the current name going forward. For new grant applications, manuscripts, acknowledgement statements, and funder-identification fields, “Research Council of Finland” is the organization’s current English name and is the form to use in new material.
Older references don’t need to be changed retroactively. A publication, dataset, or grant record that cites “Academy of Finland” because that was the funder’s name at the time of the award is accurate as written; there is no requirement to go back and update historical acknowledgements to the new name.
Legal continuity carries through. Because this was a name change rather than a change of legal entity, an award, contract, or reporting obligation entered into under the old name remains binding and traceable to the same organization under the new name.
Funder-identification records track the same organization under the new label. Systems that use persistent identifiers for organizations, such as a ROR ID, are built to record a curated organization record that can carry name-history metadata rather than losing continuity when an organization rebrands, so a funder ID lookup or an ORCID funding entry referencing either name should still resolve to the same underlying funder. Research offices maintaining internal funder tables or CRIS records should update the display name while keeping any existing persistent identifier unchanged, rather than treating this as a new funder to be added separately.

Organizational structure and governance

The Research Council of Finland is Finland’s principal national funding body for scientific research and operates under Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture. Two structural features are useful for a research office to understand:

Scientific councils. Funding decisions within the core organization are made through discipline-based scientific councils (the renamed successors to what were previously called research councils), which carry out peer review and funding recommendations within their respective fields.
The Strategic Research Council (SRC) is a related but distinct body. The Strategic Research Council funds multidisciplinary research aimed at significant societal challenges and impact, operating alongside the Research Council of Finland’s core disciplinary funding rather than as one of the renamed scientific councils. Because its remit and application process differ from the core funding instruments below, a research office scoping strategic, impact-oriented funding should treat SRC calls as a separate track.

Current funding programs

As of its current structure, the Research Council of Finland groups its funding instruments into three broad categories on aka.fi, reflecting different stages of a research idea or career. Program names and eligibility details are set and updated by the Research Council of Finland directly, so a research office should confirm current specifics on aka.fi/en before advising a researcher or building a proposal timeline around any of these.

Early-stage and exploratory funding

Academy Project Funding — the organization’s core project grant instrument for investigator-led research.
Academy Research Fellowship — funding aimed at researchers early in an independent research career.
Academy Professorship — a fixed-term position-based funding instrument for established researchers.
Clinical Researcher Funding — funding structured for researchers who combine clinical work with research activity.

Funding for established, larger-scale programs

Finnish Flagship Programme — funding for large research entities intended to generate significant scientific, economic, and societal impact.
Research infrastructures funding — support for shared national research infrastructure.
Finnish Centres of Excellence — funding for high-level, sustained research consortia selected through a competitive national programme.
International collaboration in high-performance computing — funding connected to Finland’s participation in international HPC collaboration.

Additional and cross-cutting funding tracks

Proof of Concept Funding — funding to help move research findings toward practical application.
Funding for clinical research and funding for university research profiles — targeted instruments outside the core project-grant track.
International funding cooperation — mechanisms supporting joint calls and collaboration with funders in other countries.
EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funding and strategic research funding — instruments tied to specific EU or national strategic priorities, alongside sector-specific tracks such as sport science and physical activity funding.

This structure is current as described on aka.fi at time of writing; instrument names, calls, and eligibility criteria are revised periodically, so treat this list as an orientation to the current framework rather than a static reference for a specific application cycle.

Practical guidance for researchers and international collaborators

In acknowledgement statements and funding-acknowledgement text, use “Research Council of Finland” for any funding awarded or referenced going forward, while leaving historical acknowledgements for pre-2023 awards as originally written.
In CVs and biosketches, researchers holding older Academy of Finland awards can note the award under the name that applied at the time, optionally noting the organization’s current name in parentheses for a reader unfamiliar with the rebrand — which is the convention this guide’s own title follows.
In multi-national consortium agreements involving a Finnish partner funded by this body, confirm with the Finnish partner institution which name is used on the specific funding decision or contract in question, since documents issued close to the June 2023 transition may use either name depending on exact timing.
When searching for the organization in a funder database, CRIS, or ORCID record, search both names, since older records will still be indexed under “Academy of Finland” and newer ones under “Research Council of Finland.”
For anything specific to a current call — deadlines, budget ceilings, eligibility rules, or application procedure — go directly to aka.fi/en, since instrument details are maintained and updated by the Research Council of Finland itself and are the only authoritative source for current-cycle terms.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Research Council of Finland a new organization?

No. It is the same legal entity previously known in English as the Academy of Finland, under a Board-approved English-language name change that took effect in June 2023. Its Finnish name, Suomen Akatemia, did not change.

Do I need to update past publications or grant records that cite “Academy of Finland”?

No. A citation or acknowledgement referencing “Academy of Finland” is accurate for any funding decision made before the June 2023 name change and does not need to be retroactively updated.

Which name should I use for a new grant application or acknowledgement?

Use the current name, Research Council of Finland, for any new application, publication, or acknowledgement statement going forward.

Did the name change affect funding programs or eligibility rules?

The name change itself was an English-language rebrand and did not, by itself, restructure funding programs. The organization’s discipline-based research councils were renamed scientific councils as part of the same update. Program names, instruments, and eligibility rules continue to evolve on their own schedule independent of the rebrand, so always confirm current terms on aka.fi/en.

Is the Strategic Research Council the same as the Research Council of Finland?

They are closely connected but distinct: the Strategic Research Council funds multidisciplinary, societal-impact-focused research and operates alongside the Research Council of Finland’s core disciplinary scientific councils rather than being one of them.

This guide reflects the Research Council of Finland’s own explanation of its 2023 name change and its current program structure as described on aka.fi. Because funding instrument names, budgets, and eligibility terms are set and updated by the Research Council of Finland directly, a research office should always confirm current-cycle details on aka.fi/en before advising a researcher or submitting an application.