DigiSus research platform aims to create holistic and cross-disciplinary insights into digitalization and sustainability as societal transitions. To support early-stage research in this area, we open a funding call to offer seed funding that is to be used in 2026.
Early-stage research funding call
- Application period: 1 December 2025 to 20 January 2026
- Funding period: 16 March to 31 December 2026
- Amounts funded: 5,000 to 20,000 euros per application
- Total funding: approximately 110,000 euros
- Decisions on funding will be made by 10 March 2026
Note: a separate continuous call for community or societal impact initiatives will be opened in spring 2026 after this early-stage research funding call has closed. In this call there will be also a special call for continuing education course (täydennyskoulutuskurssi) about DigiSus themes.
Funding criteria
The aim of the funding is to support early-stage research, including the development of new ideas, forming new collaborations, initiation of bold new openings, developing research competences in new areas, or continuation of promising starts. Funded initiatives must be related to both digitalization and sustainability.
- The initiative must support the themes and objectives of DigiSus and the strategy of Tampere University.
- The main applicant must be a member of the Tampere University research community (career stage 2-4, i.e., at least a post-doctoral researcher), while the funding may cover the salaries of anyone in a work contract with Tampere University.
- The main applicant must have an employment contract with Tampere Universities when applying and during the project implementation.
- Evaluation criteria: 1) relevance to DigiSus themes, 2) interdisciplinarity and interorganizational collaboration, 3) potential for long-term impact and legacy, 4) feasibility of the plan, and 5) consideration of sustainability aspects in the implementation of the initiative.
- The funding may complement the services or funding already provided by Tampere University, but it must not overlap with them (e.g., the support from the Preaward Team or other research platforms). Hence, do not send the same or similar proposal to the simultaneous TURNS Funding Call 2026, but choose the call that suits your application best.
- The funded applicants are expected to contribute to at least one of the following general dissemination aims of DigiSus: producing a blog post about the funded initiative on the DigiSus blog; organizing a DigiSus event as part of their initiative; making a presentation at one of the DigiSus events; or something similar. This will be agreed separately with each recipient.
The funding can be used for:
- The salary expenses of Tampere University staff members (as working time allocations)
- The fees of persons outside Tampere University (see instructions on fees on the intranet)
- Travel expenses (see Travel Policy on the intranet)
- Billable domestic and foreign services and purchases (see invoicing instructions on the intranet)
- Reimbursement of expenses in cases where invoicing is not possible
The amount of seed funding is 5,000 to 20,000 euros per initiative.
The funding can be used for the salaries or hiring of people at Tampere University (please confirm this from your supervisor/unit/faculty). Read through the procedures in the intranet already before submitting the application: employment relationships. Any contracts are made at your own faculty, and the costs are allocated to DigiSus.
A modest part of the funding can be used to pay the fees of researchers or collaborators at other universities and organizations (national or abroad), but only for justified reasons explained in the application.
How to apply
Send a short, free-form application, maximum two pages (no attachments), by email to digisus@tuni.fi. The language of the application can be either English or Finnish. The application period closes on 20 January 2026 at 23:59 (EEST).
The application should include:
- Title in both English and Finnish.
- The name of the main applicant, contact information and position at Tampere University. Include a link to the main applicant’s public TUNI profile and ORCID identifier, if possible.
- Public short description of the initiative for communications purposes* (max. 300 characters including spaces).
- Purpose of funding and a short work plan.
- Expected impact: Why is the initiative important? What are the short-term and long-term objectives of the initiative? What results can be expected?
- Relevance to DigiSus: explicate how your idea addresses the intersection of digital and sustainability transitions.
- Possible collaborators and research environment / network / team.
- A clear budget and timetable describing what the funding will be used for. For salaries of Tampere University employees, add 20% indirect costs into the salary budget. Do not add overhead costs. When planning the application, remember that the funding must be used by the end of 2026.
* We inform about accepted applications on the DigiSus website, LinkedIn, and other channels of Tampere Universities.
Decisions
The applications are pre-screened by the DigiSus coordinators and evaluated by the members of the DigiSus management board. The DigiSus management board will make funding decisions in the beginning of March 2026 among the applications with the best reviews. Any conflicts of interest are taken into account in the evaluation and decision process. We reserve the right to reduce the applied sums. The applicants will be notified of the decisions by 10 March 2026.
More information
Kirsikka Kaipainen and Matias Nurminen, DigiSus coordinators
digisus@tuni.fi
You can meet us to discuss your ideas at selected dates and times during the application period:
- Wednesday 10 December: DigiSus Winter Feast at 9-12:30 at Paidia
- More dates to be updated here in early December
Note also the simultaneous TURNS research platform’s funding call for seed and mobility funding related to urban studies!