Call 2025

The SAFER2028 call for proposals has been officially opened with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (MEAE) letter on 9.8.2024. The call was closed on 4.10.

The objectives and organisation of the SAFER2028 programme and this call are described in the SAFER2028 Framework Plan and the Update to the Framework plan, by the Management Group. Please note that the update to the Framework Plan also describes a plan to fund a special infrastructure project in next year’s call, for information for the research organisations.

Instructions for the call 2025 provide detailed guidance for preparing and submitting the project proposals.

Different project types
The research programme can have different type of projects in terms of duration, number of participating organisations and objectives:

• Research projects applying for funding annually (duration 1 to 3 years)
• Excellence projects with funding granted for the entire duration of the project (duration 2 to 3 years)
• Doctoral education projects with funding granted for the entire duration of the project (see Doctoral Education Network) (duration 1 to 4 years)
• Complementary education projects for further training of experts (duration 1 to 3 years)
• Projects for improving nuclear energy research infrastructure in Finland (duration 1 to 3 years).
• In addition, Management Group (MG) can start small studies outside of the call.

The selection criteria for research project proposals are:

• Project’s ability to develop expertise
• Significance to nuclear safety
• Usability for end users
• Scientific level of the proposal
• Novelty of the methods and new approaches
• Use of experimental facilities
• National and international collaboration and networking
• Compatibility with the framework plan of the SAFER2028 programme.

Criteria for DENSE projects are:

• Scientific level of the proposal
• Relevance of project proposal for scientific goals of SAFER2028 programme (in the long term)
• Recommendation letter from a supervising professor
• Recommendation letter from a stakeholder organisation if applicable (industry, regulator)
• International network connections
• Overall participation of the host organisation in the wider SAFER2028 research programme
• Complementary funding/in-kind funding already promised from other sources
• Diversity of topics and disciplines within the Doctoral Education Network.

In addition to these criteria, the Management Group considers the overall research portfolio and its coverage of nationally important research topics as described in the Framework Plan. Evaluation of projects is done by experts in key nuclear safety and nuclear waste management organisations in Finland.

The selection procedure for the research projects is described in detail in the Operational Management Handbook.

The MG will give their funding recommendations annually after the call in December and the State Nuclear Fund VYR will make their official funding decisions by the end of March of the next year.