Reporting a suspected violation of the terms for use of funding

If you suspect that the terms for the use of funding (inc. SRC funding) have been violated in a project funded by the Research Council of Finland, please submit a report using the dedicated reporting form. The form is available under the Forms section on the right-hand side of the page ‘How to use funding’. Fill in the form and send it to our Registrar’s Office (kirjaamo@aka.fi). If necessary, you can use a secure email address. The privacy notice that governs the processing of reports is available here.

The report can be submitted by a person working in the project, a representative of the site of research, or anyone else who has become aware of the matter. If the report leads to further measures, the RCF will hear the parties concerned as part of the investigation process. The hearing process includes providing the original report to all parties concerned, to allow them to issue their own response.

Please note that the form for reporting suspected violations of the terms for the use of funding is not intended for reports that fall within the scope of the Whistleblower Act (Act on the Protection of Persons Reporting Infringements of European Union and National Law (1171/2022)) or that concern violations of research integrity. For more information on which matters are covered by the Whistleblower Act, visit this page: Whistleblower protection at the Research Council of Finland. For more information on reporting suspected violations of research integrity and the related inquiry process, visit the website of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity.

RCF’s competence in handling suspected violations of the terms for funding

Under section 15 of the Act on Discretionary Government Grants (678/2001), the RCF, as a government grant authority, is obligated to investigate any suspected violations of its terms for funding.

The RCF’s statutory means in cases concerning the violation of the terms include suspending the payment of discretionary government grants (section 19 of the Act on Discretionary Government Grants) and recovery (sections 21 and 22 of the Act).

Please note that the RCF is an external funding source for the project, and we do not have the authority to intervene in the recipient organisation’s internal affairs, unless the matter involves a violation of the law or the terms governing the use of funding. Such internal affairs include matters related to, for instance, salaries and other personnel issues, the terms of employment, the organisation of work, travel, and procurement.

How reports are processed

We process the reports we receive in the following manner (see the process diagram below):

1. The RCF receives a report of a suspected violation of the terms for the use of funding.
2. The RCF conducts a preliminary investigation on whether the report concerns a matter that falls under the RCF’s jurisdiction. At this stage, the RCF may request additional information from the person who submitted the report. Based on its preliminary investigation, the RCF decides whether it should initiate further measures (2A) or cease processing the matter at this stage (2B). The person who submitted the report is informed of the decision made after the preliminary investigation.
3. If the report warrants further measures, the RCF initiates a hearing process, where the original report is submitted to the parties concerned. The parties are given the opportunity to submit a written comment (response) on the matters raised in the report by the specified deadline. A decision can be issued on the matter even if the parties concerned do not submit a response within the specified deadline.
4. If the person who submitted the report is considered a concerned party in the matter, they will be given the opportunity to submit a written comment on the response.
5. If necessary, the RCF may request additional information.
6. The RCF decides on the matter.
7. The RCF informs the parties concerned of its decision.