Antti Vasara, President and CEO of VTT, will chair Tulanet, the cooperative body of government research institutes, until the end of 2025. Tulanet is actively involved in strengthening research, development and innovation as a cornerstone of the Finnish economy.
Strengthening the domestic knowledge base and increasing international RDI cooperation will be key joint actions for research institutes in the coming years. As part of Finland's drive to increase R&D spending to 4% of GDP by 2030, the government allocated EUR 40 million to a new postdoctoral programme for research institutes in the spring.
"It is very important for Finland to ensure excellence and to attract the best talent, also internationally. Research institutes have now started recruiting almost 90 postdoctoral researchers, both nationally and internationally through the postdoctoral programme. This expertise is being strongly directed at developing sustainable solutions and competitiveness for businesses," says Antti Vasara.
The research institutes are also responding to the government's objective of increasing international cooperation. Hundreds of EU-funded research projects are already doing this. According to a Business Finland report, research institutes absorbed EUR 229 million from Horizon Europe between 2021 and 2024. Access to projects requires matching funding, which the government has committed to increase.
“EU projects are a great opportunity for Finnish companies and research organisations to get involved in international development and to increase the amount of research and development work being done here. We domestic research institutes are experienced in applying for funding and bringing together different actors to work towards a common goal. Finnish companies should now apply more actively," says Vasara.
European security and competition also have an impact on research institutes
An emerging theme in both Finland and the EU is overall security and societal resilience.
"Research institutes have many important roles to play in maintaining and developing overall security. There is also a great need for research and new solutions. The advantage here is that research institutes are able to respond quickly to the needs of society and industry," says Vasara.
The European Commission has also highlighted the need for a secure framework for conducting research and for protecting research from interference, including from outside parties. Technology and critical research knowledge play a key role in global power dynamics. Finland must also increase its readiness to react to changes in the operating environment.
Tulanet is the cooperative body of 11 Finnish government research institutes. Tulanet's member organisations employ about 10,000 people. Tulanet comprises:
• Geological Survey of Finland (GTK)
• Finnish meteorological Institute (FMI)
• Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
• National Land Survey of Finland (NLS)
• Finnish Food Authority
• Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)
• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd.
• Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)
• Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH)
• VATT Institute for Economic Research
• Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)
