Union comments on the multi-annual plan for the use of research and development funding prepared by the parliamentary RDI Working Group

It is the view of the Finnish Union of University Professors that the multi-annual plan for the use of research and development funding plays a key role in assuring that Finland can achieve its goal to increase the share of RDI investment activities to four per cent of the GDP by 2030. The Act on Research and Development Funding for 2024–2030 largely limits the options available to the State to those stated in this plan.

The Union emphasises the persistent need to improve the conditions for the research and development activities of universities and research institutes within the plan. In order for universities to react quickly to new challenges, to focus on high-risk innovative projects and to hire researchers and teachers to long-term employment, the focus of the university funding must shift, in the long run, to free research funding that is distributed in the form of basic funding.