Consequently, the closure of the SHOK programme leaves a significant gap in Finland’s research and innovation policy. The profusion of small basic research centres over the past two decades appears to have had little effect on generating quality peaks and there is no centres of excellence instrument working around innovation. Bigger basic research centres and a revived competence centres programme appear to be necessities for tackling the quality “peaks”. For the most part, universities are not in a position to fund the early-stage commercialisation of research results, a capacity gap that is filled through Tekes’ commercialisation programme “New business from research ideas”.