Academy of Finland general conditions for funding decisions

2 March 2007

• Researcher training and research abroad
• Researcher mobility from Finland
• Researcher mobility to Finland
• International joint seminars

Grants and other research funding granted by the Academy of Finland may only be used for the purpose specified in the funding decision.

The Finnish Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001) and the Academy general conditions specified below are to be complied with in the use, remittance and control of grants.  

General provisions and regulations regarding the use of state funds shall be complied with in the use, payment and control of research funding granted for researcher mobility to Finland. The general conditions specified below and the regulations in force at the site of research shall also be complied with in the use of research grants. In case the funding has been allocated to a private law legal person or a municipality, the provisions of the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers (688/2001) as well as the general conditions specified below and the regulations in force at the site of research shall be complied with, provided that they do not contradict the conditions set down by the Academy. 

If the Academy has set a condition, specified in the decision, for the awarding of the funding, it must be adhered to.

Grants awarded for research abroad or for mobility from Finland include a monthly grant. The grant may also include travel costs, term and study fees as well as other research costs. The travel costs of family members may have been included in the decision, provided that the researcher and his/her family stay abroad for at least six months. The grant does not include settling-in costs.

Funding granted for foreign researchers' work in Finland includes a personal grant to be paid to the researcher.

Researchers working on grants shall take health care and other insurances themselves.

Grants awarded by the Academy of Finland for research are tax-free.     

Remittance of grants/starting to use funding/remittance of discretionary government transfers

The Academy of Finland pays, on written request, the grant into a Finnish bank account in the use of the grantee on the 15th of the month. The time of starting the payment of the monthly instalments is to be indicated in the request for remittance.  If, in addition to the monthly instalments, the grant includes other separate funding, such as term fees or travel expenses, the request for payment should state the monthly instalment in connection with which these are to be paid. A remittance is requested using the Academy's payment request form on the Academy's website at www.aka.fi > For researcher > Use of funding > Finance administration forms. 

For the use of research grants awarded for researcher mobility to Finland, the Academy confirms for state administration organisations (universities and research institutes), without separate request, the research grant and the budget account to be used; the organisation, i.e. the accounting office, enters the budget account in its own accounting.

Other than state administration organisations invoice the discretionary government transfers from the Academy at least on a quarterly basis. A specification for the realised costs shall be appended to the invoice. The last instalment of the calendar year shall be invoiced by the 10th of the following January.

Reporting

The grantee or the recipient of research funding, i.e. the responsible leader, shall submit a research report no later than 15 June of the year following the termination of the funding period. For separate guidelines for reporting see www.aka.fi > For researcher > Reporting.

The recipient of a grant for researcher training and research abroad shall, in connection with the submission of the research report referred above, submit a certification for research abroad, issued by the foreign site of research. The certification form is available at www.aka.fi > For researcher > Use of funding > Finance administration forms.

The certification shall be submitted for decisions that have been made on the basis of the January 2007 call or thereafter.

Research funding granted for research in Finland:
Accounting offices shall report on the incomes and expenses of the Academy-funded activity during the budget year, accrued from the beginning of the year on a quarterly basis. For the first three quarters, the incomes and expenses shall be reported no later than the 20th of the month following the quarter. For the fourth quarter, the incomes and expenses shall be reported no later than 31 January of the year following the reporting year.

Other than state administration organisations shall submit an account report via the Academy's online services within three months from the termination of the funding period.

Control and discontinuation and recovery of funds

The Academy has the right to monitor and control the use of grants, research grants and discretionary government transfers (below referred to as funds). The Academy is entitled to carry out any inspections that may be necessary for the payment and control of the use of the funds.

The recipient of the funding must without delay notify the Academy of any change affecting the use of the funds. Any other funds or subsidies received by the activity or project to be funded may affect the amount of the discretionary government transfer. The recipient must without delay notify the Academy Registrar's Office of any other income or subsidy received after the submission of the application.

The Academy may interrupt or order the payment of the funds to be terminated or recover the funds or part of them, if the funds have been used for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was granted; or the recipient of the funding has presented erroneous or misleading information regarding a fact which has affected the granting of the funds, its amount, or its conditions; or otherwise violated the regulations concerning the use of the funds or the conditions incorporated into the funding decision.

The provisions of the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers are applied to the use, payment and control of grants. Of the repayment and claw-back of grants and discretionary government transfers has been stipulated in Chapter 5 of the Act on Discretionary Government Transfers.
      
The recipient of a grant or government discretionary transfer shall without delay repay into the Academy of Finland's bank account 166030-112337 any funds, or any portion of funds, received erroneously, in excess or evidently without grounds. If the amount to be returned does not exceed ten euros, it need not be returned.

Research ethics

The Academy requires that the guidelines of the National Advisory Board on Research Ethics, 'Good scientific practice and procedures for handling misconduct and fraud in science' as well as the complementary research-ethical guidelines of the Academy of Finland be observed in all Academy-funded research.

Scientific publications

Academy-funded research projects shall always indicate in their scientific publications that the research has been conducted with funding from the Academy of Finland. It is recommended that Academy-funded researchers publish their research articles in open-access electronic scientific journals in cases where there are electronic journals available that meet at least the same quality standards as traditional subscription-based journals.  Likewise, it is recommended that parallel copies of all published research articles be saved in Finnish open electronic publication archives.

Social science research data collected for the project

It is recommended that Academy-funded research projects deliver any social science research data, compiled within the project, to the Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD), based at the University of Tampere. The delivery shall take place as soon as possible after the termination of the funding from the Academy.

Appealing against the funding decision
       
An appeal and the Academy's decision is needed for:

- changing the condition or purpose of the use of funding, for example in cases where substantial changes are made to the research plan or where the applicant  is transferring to work in an organisation other than the one mentioned in the application,
- extending the funding period;

The funding period may be extended only on application and for a special reason, such as on the basis of a maternity, parental or childcare leave, military or non-military service, or a chronic disease of a researcher working in the project. The funding period may be extended on the basis of a childcare leave for a maximum of one year. The funding period cannot be extended on the grounds that the money has not been used.

Application of conditions

These general conditions are to be applied as from 1 January 2007. However, accounting offices and other organisations report on their activities in 2006 in accordance with the conditions in force in 2006.

The general conditions for funding are revised annually. The valid, revised general conditions and more information on the application of the conditions are available at www.aka.fi > For researcher > Use of funding > general conditions of financing.

Further information

Questions regarding funding decisions and conditions of funding can be made via the Questions and feedback section on the Academy's website www.aka.fi/eng.