Centres of Excellence

A Centre of Excellence is a scientific consortium which aims to develop the cooperation and joint activities of exceptionally high-level Estonian research groups. The Centre of Excellence focusses on solving high-risk, high-reward research questions based on the needs of Estonia. High-risk, high-reward research leads to a breakthrough research result that significantly affects the current knowledge or practices of one or more fields.

Regulation No. 13 (2023) of the Minister of Education and Research stipulates the conditions and procedure for naming and financing the Centres of Excellence (the document is in Estonian).

The grant period is seven years, and the maximum grant amount is seven million euros for the whole period per Centre of Excellence. The funding period for the Centres of Excellence is 01.01.2024—31.12.2030.

Only a positively evaluated public or state research and development institution (legal status “legal person in private law” or “legal person in public law”) whose research group(s) participate in the application can apply.

In addition to the applicant, at least one other state or public research and development institution must participate in the Centre of Excellence. A Centre of Excellence can be formed by at least three research groups. In addition to mandatory partners, positively evaluated private institutions as well as other research groups  from public institutions may also be included in the Centre of Excellence.  If necessary, other research and development staff from positively evaluated research and development institutions can be included in the Centre of Excellence, who are not invloved in the group’s ongoing R&D project. Institutions that are not positively evaluated can participate in the activity as partners, but the budget cannot cover their participation costs.

The research groups included in the application must have an ongoing research and development project in 2023 with a total duration of at least two years, and a total funding of 210,000 euros. The PI of the research group must be the PI of the ongoing research and development project. If the research group’s research and development project ends in 2023, the institution must guarantee funding for the research group for 70,000 euros (one-third of the volume of one research and development project) for 2024.

NB! Starting and team grants qualify if the total duration is at least two years and total funding at least 210,000 euros. Although, ETIS does not show the total funding of these projects (amount corresponds to payouts), the Estonian Research Council is aware of the total funding and takes it into account.

The PI of the Centre of Excellence and the PI-s of the research groups included in the application must have a doctorate. They must be at an internationally high level in their field, have experience in conducting research and managing R&D projects, or have corresponding qualifications. Each PI and research group PI can participate in only one application. There are no participation restrictions for other research staff.

Applying and evaluating take place through ETIS (Estonian Research Information System). The language of the application is English.

To begin the application, the applying institution must submit a corresponding statement to ETAG. The statements can be submitted starting from the call’s opening date until (and including) June 30, 2023 to mariann.proos@etag.ee. The application will be opened as soon as possible after receiving the statement. 

The statement must include the following:

• the initial name of the Centre of Excellence (in Estonian and English),
• the initial summary in English,
• the name of the PI, and participating partners,
• keywords in English (3–6).

Application form template

The call opened on May 23: the deadline for applying was September 15, 2023 (17:00 Estonian time).

Information webinar (in English) took place of Friday, June 2 at 10–12 (Estonian time). You can find the recorded presentation (in English) here and the slideshow here.

Information webinar (in Estonian) took place on Friday, May 26 at 10–12 (Estonian time). You can find the recorded presentation (in Estonian) here and the slideshow here.

The evaluation takes place in four stages:

1. Evaluation in the expert panel of foreign experts
2. Evaluation in the expert panel of local experts
3. Evaluation in the ethics and data management expert panel
4. Evaluation and final selection of funded Centres of Excellence in the selection committee

Evaluation in the expert panel of foreign experts and in the expert panel of local experts takes place in parallel. Up to double the total funding amount worth of applications (98 million euros) is forwarded to the ethics and data management expert panel. All applications that are forwarded to the ethics and data management expert panel will also move on to the selection committee.

Evaluation guidelines 

Funding decisions will be made in December 2023.

Who may form a Centre of Excellence? 

A Centre of Excellence (CoE) may be formed by two state or public research and development institutions (one of which is the applicant). At least one research group from each institution must be included in the CoE. Altogether, at least three research groups must be included in the CoE. Different combinations are thus possible. For example, the third research group may also be from a private research and development institution. 

Which state or public research institutions are positively evaluated in 2023? 

The following state or public research institutions are positively evaluated in 2023: Institute of the Estonian Language, Estonian Literary Museum, Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Estonian National Museum, Under and Tuglas Literature Centre, National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn University, University of Tartu, National Institute for Health Development. 

Which private research institutions are positively evaluated in 2023? 

The following private research institutions are positively evaluated in 2023: BioCC OÜ, Cybernetica AS, Metrosert AS, Icosagen Cell Factory OÜ, Protobios OÜ, SA Estonian Business School, STACC OÜ, Tervisetehnoloogiate Arenduskeskus AS, Toidu- ja Fermentatsioonitehnoloogia Arenduskeskus AS. 

Who can be the PI of a CoE? 

The PI of the CoE must also be the PI of one of the participating research groups and they must have an ongoing research project. 

Which projects qualify as “ongoing projects”? 

Ongoing projects are projects with an end date on or after the CoE call opening date (23.05.2023) or projects which start on or after May 23, but where the funding decision is made at the latest on 15.09.2023 (deadline for applications). If the new (start date after May 23) project is not registered in ETIS on the application deadline, please include proof of the funding decision to the application.

Which projects qualify a research group for participating in a CoE? 

To be eligible for participation in a CoE, the research group must have an ongoing project which meets the following criteria: To be eligible for participation in a CoE, the research group must have an ongoing project which meets the following criteria: 

• The project must be registered in ETIS as a research and development project. 
• The period of the project must be at least two years. 

• The complete funding of the project must be at least 210,000 euros. 

There are no requirements for the funder, but the project's funding must be 210,000 euros as one whole from one funder. This means that the project cannot be combined from multiple smaller projects. 

Do starting and team grants qualify even though the amount shown in ETIS corresponds to annual payouts?

Starting and team grants qualify if the period of the project is at least 2 years and the complete fundig at least 210,000 euros. Although, the amount shown in ETIS does not correspond to the full amount of the project, the Estonian Research Council is aware of the complete amounts of PSGs and PRGs and takes them into account.

What are the requirements for the staff of a research group? 

Not all staff from the qualifying project must participate in the CoE. For example, if the qualifying project is a PRG project, you can choose which staff members from that project participate in the CoE. If necessary, you can add other members from positively evaluated research and development institutions to the research group.

What are the development needs of the “Estonia 2035” development strategy? 

The nine development needs are population, health and life expectancy of people, society and opportunities, learning opportunities, business environment, biodiversity and the environment, cultural space and the living environment, security and safety, governance. Read more HERE. 

What are the focus areas of the RDIE strategy? 

The focus areas are digital solutions across all areas of life, health technologies and services, valorisation of local resources, smart and sustainable energy solutions, viable Estonian society, language and cultural space. Read more HERE.

What are the requirements for the statement to open an application? 

The statement must contain the name of the CoE (in Estonian and English), an English summary, the PI of the CoE and participating partner institutions, keywords in English (3–6). It is not necessary to add confirmation letters from the partners to the statement, and everything except the name of the PI can be changed during the application process. The digitally signed statement is submitted according to the relevant institutional practices. 

What are the requirements for a guarantee letter from the institution for additional funding? 

A guarantee letter is needed when a research group has an ongoing project which ends in 2023. The letter should contain the following details: to which CoE’s which project the guarantee pertains, the period and the sum of additional funding. The digitally signed letter is submitted according to the relevant institutional practices. 

New Centres of Excellence projects funded in the 2023 call:

When referring to the support of the Centre of Excellence, the Ministry of Education and Research must be mentioned as the funding provider. For example:

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Research Centres of Excellence grant TKXXX name of CoE.

Regulation
Guidelines for Completing Your Ethics Self-Assessment for Grant Application
Explanation of the requirements arising from the Nagoya Protocol (currently in Estonian)
Budget tool
Estonian Centres of Excellence (2023)