Research infrastructures are resources of research facilities, equipment, materials and services permitting research and development at different stages of innovation, supporting organized research, and maintaining and developing research capacity.

In response to the need for a more coordinated approach to policy making in the field of research infrastructures in Finland and following the work of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), the Research Infrastructure Committee of the Ministry of Education proposed a national review of research infrastructures in its report published in 2007.

Funded by the Ministry of Education, the Finnish Federation of Learned Societies is responsible for the Finnish Research Infrastructure Survey and Roadmap project during 2008.

The Ministry appointed a project Steering Group chaired by Counsellor of Education Mirja Arajärvi (Ministry of Education). The invited members of the group were Director Mika Aalto (Tekes – The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation), Professor Mikael Hildén (Finnish Environment Institute), Professor Juhani Keinonen (Federation of Finnish Learned Societies), Vice President (Research) Riitta Mustonen (Academy of Finland), Senior Adviser, R&D, Martti Mäkelä (Ministry of Transport and Communications), Counsellor of Education Marja-Liisa Niemi (Ministry of Education), Director, Innovation Policy, Sakari Immonen (Ministry of Employment and the Economy), Chief Planning Officer Tuomas Parkkari (Science and Technology Policy Council), Director of Research Mikko Peltonen (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry), and Director of Research and Development Kari Vinni (Ministry of Social Affairs and Health).

Invited permanent experts of the Steering Group were Vice-Rector Outi Krause (Helsinki University of Technology, Finnish Council of University Rectors), Rector Tapio Varmola (Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, Rectors Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences), Secretary General Sari Löytökorpi (Advisory Board for Sectoral Research), Adviser Janica Ylikarjula (Confederation of Finnish Industries EK), and Programme Director Markus Ranne (Finpro organization). The secretary of the Steering Group was Senior Science Adviser Eeva Ikonen.

The questionnaires were divided into two separate divisions:

(1.) The review division produced a data set concerning current national research infrastructures and international research infrastructures where Finland is a member or is attached to it via a treaty. All research infrastructures that were included in the report had to fill the criteria of national research infrastructures outlined by the Steering Committee. With regard to Finland, the final review report will help complement the overall picture of European research infrastructures.

(2.) The second division consisted of proposals for the long-term national plan or "roadmap". The roadmap report is a 10–20 year plan for national needs or possible emerging national needs of different research fields in terms of research infrastructure, including the need for new national research infrastructures, upgrading the existing national research infrastructures, joining in existing/new international research infrastructures or participating in upgrading processes of the existing international research infrastructures.

The mapping of national-level research infrastructure and new infrastructure needs was carried out with the aid of an open Internet-based survey. The Steering Group checked all submitted proposals: proposals for existing research infrastructures and proposals for the roadmap. After the pre-evaluation, the results of the survey were assessed by three international expert panels: LME: Life Sciences and Medicine & Environmental Sciences, PSE: Physical Sciences, eScience and Engineering, SSH: Social Sciences and Humanities.

The final report National-level research infrastructures. Present state and roadmap (Publications of the Ministry of Education, Finland 2009:2) was published on February 11, 2009. In the future, the review process and the assessment of long term-needs are designed to be repeated at regular intervals.

Final report / Summary