Project Booster Call 2025

SOS announces an open call for projects focusing on biodiversity-related marine research and its potential for a societal transition to sustainability. The aim of this call is to foster collaboration, explore innovative ideas, and to test preliminary research questions in the context of SOS. 

Call open: 1–31 October (16:00 EET)
Decisions: early December  
Available funding: up to 50 000 € in total, 5 000 – 20 000 € per project  

Submit your application

What we are looking for  

The proposed projects may address any biodiversity-related marine research topic, provided that they meet the criteria and guidelines detailed below. 

The SOS Project Booster proposals should:  

  • Be innovative, bold, and risky, exploring new avenues  
  • Work across at least two disciplines/fields (natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, arts, etc.)  
  • Be linked to one or more of the overarching topics of SOS (WP1-6)  
  • Have exactly one lead and a maximum of three co-proponents (at least one of whom is employed at or in a grant agreement with Åbo Akademi University)
  • Be completed within one year  

    Proposals are also encouraged to involve outside-ÅAU collaboration and stakeholders. Projects that aim at establishing a start-up company are also eligible to apply.

Proposals are evaluated on scientific quality. Yet, we particularly value:  

  • Unconventional and/or high-risk, high-gain projects supporting SOS’s goals (with little potential to be funded through other sources)  
  • Transdisciplinary research projects (preferably including partners from outside academia)
  • Support for SOS’s national and/or international partnerships  

The total available sum of 50 000 € will be divided among several projects. A single project may apply for between 5,000 and 20,000 € (detailed budget required). The funding may be used for short-term salary, exchange, travel, material, and other expenses. The proposals will be granted as a lump sum. Co-funding is possible.  

Who can apply  

We welcome applications from both early career and established researchers in all fields that complement and enlarge the SOS research portfolio and strengthen our collocations among researchers within and beyond Åbo Akademi University.  Applications that link SOS partners across various universities are particularly welcomed. 

Applicants may – but do not have to – be affiliated with the ÅAU profiling area The Sea and/or SOS.

Each application must involve at least one person employed by or in a grant agreement with ÅAU (either as project lead or co-applicant).  

Each proposed project can have exactly one lead and a maximum of three co-applicants. Applicants can only lead one project and participate in a maximum of three project proposals. 

Online Consultations

We offer prospective applicants the opportunity for a short online consultation with SOS representatives to discuss their proposal and ask questions. The consultations are max. 15 minutes each and conducted via Zoom on Monday, 20 October.

The booking for online consultations is now closed. The Zoom link has been sent via email to all applicants who booked a consultation.

How to apply

Submit your application by 31 October, 16:00 EET via Webropol:

Submit your application

Application tracks

On the application form, you will be asked to select one of four thematic tracks, which are based on the overarching research strands of SOS. Please select the track that your project best aligns with. There is also an open option for any projects that do not align with any of the first three tracks.

Please note that we do not have any quota for these tracks and the success of your application will not be in any way dependent on which one you select. If your project aligns with multiple tracks, please select the one that fits the best.   

Conserving marine biodiversity in the presence of human activities constitutes a wicked problem. It requires finding a balance between different human uses of the sea and their impacts, specifically preventing biodiversity loss. SOS investigates biodiversity impacts of e.g. maritime traffic, offshore wind farms, aquaculture and agriculture, and how to balance the trade-offs between conservation, economic and industry interests, as well as societal needs. Achieving this balance requires a fundamental understanding of the ecosystems, as well as effective governance that can address competing priorities and support societal acceptance and sustainable decision-making. 

This track is for projects that focus on biodiversity loss prevention. 

The biodiversity conservation work in SOS encompasses both the protection and restoration of marine life. It includes understanding the status of biodiversity and the linkages to its contributions to human well-being (ecosystem services, food production), as well as specific species restoration. We also examine the general economics of human well-being, as well as business interests and the role of the private sector in biodiversity protection and restoration through biodiversity and sustainability accounting and nature-based solutions, which are emerging as key components in this broader governance landscape. 

This track is for projects that look into how we can best safeguard and increase biodiversity to support the sustainability transition. 

Understanding changes in marine biodiversity and addressing related wicked problems requires more than just collecting new data. It also means locating existing data from diverse sources and developing new ways to connect and interpret it. Inter- and transdisciplinary research must integrate knowledge across disciplines, sectors, and even forms of understanding. A central challenge is ensuring that researchers and stakeholders can interpret each other’s data, assumptions, and insights. This means examining how knowledge is produced and shared, and how existing information might be reinterpreted to open new avenues of inquiry. SOS explores how to bridge divides between datasets, disciplines, and perspectives. This involves uncovering what knowledge exists, what’s missing, and how meaning is constructed across different contexts.   

This track is for projects that address the challenges of co-creating knowledge and supporting meaningful understanding of biodiversity change.  

This track is for any projects that do not clearly align with any of the other tracks.  

Attachment

In the application, you must attach a single PDF file that contains the following:

I) Project plan  

Max. 3 pages, including figures and references 

Formatting:
  • Font: Arial 12pt, line spacing 1.15 
  • Margins: normal
Required information: 
  • Description of the multidisciplinary or co-creation aspect of the project 
  • How is the project linked to one or more of the overarching topics of SOS (WP1-6)   
  • Reflection on the methodology applied within SOS 
  • If funded, how can the project lead to new research avenues within SOS and your own field 
  • Project timeline 

II) Budget  

1 page 

Required information: 
  • Expenses itemised: salaries/grants, materials, travel, other costs
  • Information on other funding, if applicable 

III) Short CVs of all applicants 

Max. 3 pages per involved applicant 

Decisions

All applicants will be notified of the decisions by early December 2025.  

The applications will be reviewed by an evaluation committee consisting of SOS members who are not part of a proposed project themselves and, if necessary, external reviewers. 

The total available sum of 50 000 € will be divided among several projects. The proposals will be granted as a lump sum.

Upon a positive funding decision, SOS will require the project lead/team to attend a kick-off meeting with SOS personnel. The purpose of this meeting is to go over practicalities and to ensure a successful start to the project implementation. 

SOS WP5 (Theory and methodology) will study the SOS-funded projects for research purposes. In practice, this means that SOS researchers will conduct interviews with the project team and participate in some of the project meetings (as agreed upon with the team), studying and documenting processes within the project. 

Project completion

The projects, preferably starting in January 2026, must be completed within a year from the start.

A two-page project report must be completed and submitted to the SOS steering group at the latest three months after completion of the project. 

Background

Ocean science is needed to understand the pressures on and changes to marine biodiversity, which is central to the green transition and society’s shift towards a more sustainable future. SOS delivers the science that can strengthen the consensus on policymaking options, identify solutions, and guide actions for environmental sustainability, equipping us to address the planetary biodiversity crisis.

In the Archipelago Sea and Åland Island area, SOS studies when and how human actions interact with marine biodiversity in creating wicked problems and aims at creating solutions for these challenges. SOS approaches marine wicked problems through reflexive learning in an inter-/transdisciplinary framework. The work is structured around six work packages (WPs). WPs 1–3 include specific case studies of wicked problems, while WPs 4–6 draw on these, support this work, and synthesise the findings.

This is the second of three SOS Project Booster calls. The next call is tentatively scheduled to take place in 2026. 

Contact

For further questions regarding this call, contact Malla Lehtonen (malla.lehtonen@abo.fi) and Prof. Christian Pansch-Hattich (christian.pansch-hattich@abo.fi)