The University of Eastern Finland’s research funding course has been met with positive feedback.
Training on how to apply for research funding has been available to doctoral researchers at the University of Eastern Finland for several years already. Initially launched on a small scale, the course has been well received and become established among early stage researchers.
The faculties’ research funding coordinators who assist researchers with their funding applications play a key role in the course. The desired outcome is a well-rounded application to convince the funder.
“We place particular emphasis on the fact that the application must be clear and understandable – also to people outside the applicant’s own field,” Research Funding Coordinator Saija Miina says.
“The abstract is essential part of the application. First impressions matter and getting straight to the point is important: what the applicant is planning to study and how, why the topic is relevant right now, and why the applicant is the best person to conduct the study. And of course, their research should generate something new,” Research Funding Coordinator Milena Fayt adds.
Peer support, better applications
This autumn, a good number of early stage researchers took part in course. In fact, it has been so popular that even researchers who have already defended their PhD have been given an opportunity to participate. So far, the results are encouraging: many of the participants have secured funding from foundations and, based on the feedback, the course has been useful and helped in the application process.
“Nearly all doctoral researchers apply for funding from sources outside the university, and competition is hard. Many people don’t have any experience of applying for funding, and they struggle with their applications alone. This is why we need a course where we can go over the details of the application and the research proposal,” Fayt says.
Research Funding Coordinators Milena Fayt, Saija Miina and Katri Kostiainen provide training for doctoral researchers of the Philosophical Faculty, and the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies. Similar training is also available at the Faculty of Health Sciences, and at the Faculty of Science and Forestry.
“The course has two parts. The first part includes recorded lectures on various topics related to applying for funding. For the seminar, the participants will draw up a research proposal for a foundation, and doctoral researchers will read and comment on each other's proposals. Everyone gets feedback in writing. In the second part, the participants write an abstract and a description of themselves, and they will receive feedback in the same way,” Saija Miina says, describing the content.
Peer support has been found very valuable among course participants and funders alike.
“Feedback from peers is important, because it is easy for experts to have blind spots about their own research. We have received feedback from evaluators of applications that peer review should be used to improve the quality of applications. There are already several peer review groups in place at the University of Eastern Finland,” Fayt and Miina say.
The research funding course is also available to international students at the University of Eastern Finland. The Finnish system of funding awarded by foundations may be entirely foreign to international students, and they often need more support with the drafting of their research proposal and funding application.
What do you consider as the biggest challenges in the application process for research funding, Svitlana Firsova?
“For me, the biggest challenge was the adaptation of my research plan to the foundation demands and requirements. Sometimes, it is not easy to ‘’cut’’ your work – you can think that every bit of information is of utmost importance.”
What kind of support did you get from the course for applying for research funding?
“Well, I am very glad that I have taken the course because its structure – from lectures to peer work – has not only provided me with lacking knowledge, but also gave me an opportunity to practice, observe, monitor, and (most importantly) get feedback. A separate credit should be given to Milena Fayt, who supported and directed us throughout the course with advice and constructive critics. The latter, I should confess, can do greater good in some situations (and getting funding is just that situation).”
What did you find as the most important issues or lessons for you from the course?
“I believe peer work and rewriting my draft were two the most important activities for me during the course.”
How would you rate doctoral researchers’ ability to apply for funding for their research?
“Well, I think that every student has an ability to apply. It seems to me that here the question is not in the ability to apply but in the ability to change, remodel or restructure your plan or work in such a way that it meets the demands and requirements of the founding body. And this is a challenge.
When talking about the ability of a student to adjust his or her work to the necessary demands, then, to my mind, for a postgraduate student who has never applied for funding or similar things, it is challenging and hard (maybe, even impossible) without outside guidance, support, or advice.
I do not know the outcome of my funding application, but I truly believe that the course has developed my knowledge in the area and provided me with necessary instruments for future applications.”
What do you consider as the biggest challenges in the application process for research funding, Tuomo Koho?
“I think the biggest challenge in the application process for research funding is to sell the research idea. Many great ideas are left without funding due to an uninspiring application.”
What did you find as the most important issues or lessons for you from the course?
“Both peer review and comments from the teacher of the course were valuable while working with the applications. The interdisciplinary study group gave excellent feedback on how the application is viewed by scholars from other fields of science. These comments and the resulting conversations regarding the readability of an application were probably the most important features I got from the course.”
How would you rate doctoral students' ability to apply for funding for their research?
“It is hard to estimate how postgraduate students, in general, feel about their abilities to apply funding. I think the course gave me excellent advice and encouragement for applying funds, although the actual success might still require a bit of trial and error.”
Knowledge in youth is wisdom in age
The drafting of a funding application is a demanding process already at the early stage researcher level. When writing an application to a foundation, it is good to clear the calendar for two weeks of intensive writing. When applying for funding from the Academy of Finland, on the other hand, a realistic estimate of the time required is a full month.
“More experienced researchers aren’t necessarily any better at writing funding applications. By providing doctoral researchers with training, they’ll be able to write better applications at the post-doc stage”, Saija Miina points out.
Although early stage researchers aren’t seasoned experts in how to apply for research funding, they know how to learn from constructive criticism.
“A negative funding decision isn’t something that should be taken personally. Competition is different every year: one year your application may be the best, and the next year it isn’t. When you write a really good application to a foundation, you can use it in various calls by making minor modifications,” Saija Miina says.
In addition to being able to learn from feedback, Milena Fayt sees courage as an advantage for young doctoral researchers.
“Young people aren't afraid to explore difficult things. They have a lot of enthusiasm for their own research. You can see this in their applications, and it plays in their favour,” Fayt says.
